Unai Emery asks his board to sign Real Madrid star as Mesut Ozil replacement

Arsenal are keen on signing Real Madrid playmaker James Rodriguez as a replacement for Mesut Ozil. The Colombian is out of favour under Niko Kovac and wants to leave the club. At the same time Unai Emery is keen to sell Mesut Ozil and free up funds at the Emirates as he has received little interest for the German and his £300,000-a-week pages are a huge stumbling block. Bayern have the option of signing Rodriguez permanently for close to £40m but they’re unlikely to do so while Kovac remains in charge. Emery admitted last week that Arsenal do not have the funds to sign anyone permanently this month but they could afford a loan fee for Rodriguez.

Yesterday’s most read news from £62million star who is set to join Liverpool to Netherlands player who joins Fulham