Chelsea’s Juan Mata and Arsenal new-boy Mesut Ozil almost joined PSG, claims Laurent Blanc

Paris St-Germain manager Laurent Blanc claims his side were close to beating Arsenal to the signing of Mesut Ozil and bringing Juan Mata in from Chelsea during the transfer window.

The former Manchester United defender revealed that the French side had entered negotiations to sign Ozil from Real Madrid, but the player opted to join the Gunners.

Efforts to sign Mata didn’t get to that stage, but Blanc claims PSG were interested.

He said: “Ozil and Mata would have done well.

“To my knowledge, the only negotiations there have been were those for Ozil.”

PSG are likely to reignite their interest in Mata if he is still on the fringes of the Chelsea team in January.