TURAN BAIT FOR OZIL
Barca set to tempt Guns with top Turk
BARCELONA are ready to use Turkish star Arda Turan to tempt Arsenal to sell Mesut Ozil.
Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has insisted the German World Cup winner is not for sale in the January transfer window “unless something unbelievable happens”.
But he is well aware of the huge cost of letting Ozil’s contract run down and losing him for nothing in the summer.
The Gunners have put a £30m price tag on Ozil with Manchester United showing interest.
But Barca hope to persuade Wenger to part with Ozil by offering playmaker Turan in part-exchange.
Turan has failed to cement a place at the Nou Camp and been told by coach Ernesto Valverde he does not figure in his plans. One sticking point could be Ozil’s
MAURICIO POCHETTINO will drop any Spurs stars who try to blame the publication of his controversial book on their recent slump.
They have picked up just one point from the last three games and have dropped to seventh. The dip in form followed the release of ‘Brave New World’, Pochettino’s diary of last season. In it he expressed his anger at Eric Dier (right) for talking to Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho in Portuguese and also revealed private conversations with Dele Alli and Danny Rose. Arsene Wenger said he would never write a book while he was still Arsenal boss because of the need to keep a lid on dressing room secrets. But Poch insisted there was no problem with telling the truth and his players knew it all anyway. If being written about really had affected their performances, then he said he would pick someone else. The Spurs boss said: “I’m more than happy. If the book is the problem it’s easy – on the bench or out of the list. My relationship with them is so strong and to find excuses about the book is wrong. “When you are clear with everyone, the problem doesn’t exist. “The problem is when you lie, no? When you lie inside and you want to show that you are different. “All that has appeared in this book the ® players know better than me. There is nothing to hide.
“We won a lot of games when the book appeared. We beat Real Madrid, Liverpool and had unbelievable results.”
Pochettino admitted Christian Eriksen is mentally tired after helping Denmark reach the World Cup finals.
But a lack of squad depth means he will have to play on in the Premier League, starting with tomorrow’s game at Watford.
He said: “A player like Christian Eriksen maybe can be a little bit tired but mental more than physical.
“In the last international duty he played two amazing games to try to qualify for the World Cup and he cannot rest, he cannot stop.
“We have Saturday against Watford then the Champions League and yes, we need to rest players.
“We’re going to play against Apoel, we are first in the table and it’s a great opportunity to rest players that need to rest and to help them for the next period to be fresh.”
Harry Winks is back from illness to face the Hornets but Toby Alderweireld and Victor Wanyama remain sidelined.