Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is ready to offload Henrikh Mkhitaryan to pave the way for the signing of Arsenal midfielder Ozil Mesut Ozil as his replacement.

Daily Mirror reports that Mourinho is targeting Ozil, who is out of contract at the end of the season.

The coach has already been publicly critical of Mkhitaryan, accusing him of “disappearing” in games, and admitted this week that he no longer has space for the Armenia international even on his subs’ bench.

Mkhitaryan has struggled to make an impact at United — who also have Juan Mata, which could make it difficult for Mourinho to justify bringing in another the Germany international.

However, Arsenal have already offered Ozil, in excellent form over the past few weeks, £275,000-a-week to re-sign and have not given up on persuading him to stay but are struggling to reach an agreement.