Newcastle owner Mike Ashley would want £300m for the sale of the club

The Glazers could be gearing up for the sale of Manchester United within two years

Mesut Ozil wants to quit Arsenal as soon as January and the Gunners are ready to do business.

Bayern Munich are lining up a bid of around £30million for Ozil, who joined Arsenal from Real Madrid last summer for a club record £42.5m.

The Football Grapevine understands the Germany star has grown increasingly unhappy at the Emirates, not least because he is not being played in his preferred forward floating role by Arsene Wenger.

VIDEO Scroll down to watch Mesut Ozil take part in Arsenal tyre challenge

Mesut Ozil may have played his last game for Arsenal against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last Sunday

Ozil returned to Germany last week only to discover what was thought a minor knee injury could in fact rule him out for up the three months.

It might even mean he has played his last game for the Gunners.

Wenger doesn’t usually like to do business in January but could see the opportunity of offloading Ozil and bringing in his compatriot Sami Khedira from Real Madrid.

Arsenal may also move for two other Germany stars in Mats Hummels and Julian Draxler.

Lionel Messi’s run-in with the Spanish tax man could alter the destiny of his club career.

Instead of playing out his days with Barcelona, Messi could finally consider a move elsewhere if things get heavy.

Inevitably Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are monitoring the Argentine's current complicated situation.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi (centre) challenges for the ball with Rayo Vallecano's Morcillo last week

Manchester United owners, the Glazers, could be gearing up for the potential sale of the club within two years for up to $3billion.

Sources in Florida say there has been wrangling within the family over the future of the club since the death of Malcolm earlier this year.

I understand that some within the family feel the time to optimise their investment in the club is drawing close.

Joel Glazer (right) and brother Avram chat during a Premier League match at Old Trafford in 2011

Singapore businessman Peter Lim is the current owner of La Liga club Valencia

Last year the club announced record revenues but the future is not so certain given failure on the pitch last season.

The huge spend on new players - with more to come - will make a dent in profits over the next year.

And given the massive loans the Glazers have out then a predicted rise in US interest rates could have further impact.

But who would buy the club at the kind of level the Glazers want?

I understand one potential buyer could be Peter Lim.

Singapore businessman Lim currently owns La Liga club Valencia.

But intriguingly Lim also has a stake in Salford City, the non-League club backed by ex-United ‘Class of 92’ stars Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville.

Could it be that Lim plans a takeover of United with the backing of those players? They could woo back the hearts of those United fans who despise the Glazer ownership.

Cray Wanderers will be hoping for FA backing as they seek to build a new ground.

Non-League Cray are London’s oldest club and claim to be the second oldest in the world behind Sheffield FC

They have just won their battle to acquire a new site within the borough of Bromley, close to their original ground, after years of being 'homeless'.

But they now need planning permission.

Given they intend to build a 3G pitch and offer many other sports facilities - the sort of thing recently championed by FA chairman Greg Dyke - then the club will seek the help of English football's governing body to put pressure on the local council to flag through their progressive plans.

I am hearing

Petr Cech is a target for several top clubs in the transfer window but the interest of PSG would suit him best.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech in action during the match against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge

Libero

The FA keep talking up the importance of properly grooming young players through the ranks, especially at Under 21 level.

But talk is cheap.

England’s C team, the national non-League side, could have beaten San Marino this week so it seemed a waste to play Under 21 players in a stroll in the park when they could have benefited for a much sharper test against Croatia on Friday night.

Yes, England U21 sealed a 2-1 win over the Croats but it could have been more impressive had Jack Wilshere, Raheem Sterling, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Calum Chambers all played.

As it is, England go to Croatia on Tuesday having to defend that slender lead to secure qualification for next summer’s finals.

It would certainly have made a statement that playing for the U21s is not a ‘step down’.

England's Jack Wilshere (right) holds off the challenge from San Marino's Matteo Vitaioli on Thursday

Wilshere could benefit from being skipper and leader of that side all the way through the finals next summer, when it is hoped the FA have the guts to insist that every player who qualifies is made available by their clubs.

That way England WOULD have a serious chance of winning the tournament. The senior side can only benefit if a wave of players come through having coped with the pressures of tournament football, albeit at Under 21 level.

That approach has certainly worked for Germany. Four of their World Cup winning side - Manuel Neuer, Hummels, Khedira and Ozil - were the spine of their 2009 Euro U21 winning side which thrashed an understrength England 4-0 in the final.

But, as it is, England could now fail to even make the finals for the first time in five tournaments.

It’s a big game for the U21s on Tuesday, so why hasn’t Roy Hodgson backed up his promises and let Gareth Southgate have the best players available ?

After all, an England B team should be capable of winning in Estonia.

Germany players celebrate victory over England in the UEFA U21 Championship final in June 2009

BTW UEFA should follow the lead of the African Football Association and make minnows like San Marino play in a pre-qualifying group. What is the point of a supposedly competitive international that everyone knows the result - and pretty much the scoreline - before the start? I was talking to a South African football reporter and he can’t believe countries like San Marino, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar and the like play in already bloated groups. Advertisement

I-Say

Mon: Arsene Wenger says he doesn’t regret shoving Jose Mourinho on the touchline. That in itself should have prompted FA action. Last season Alan Pardew got a stadium ban for a side line set-to. Why not Wenger?

Tues: In Harry Redknapp’s new book he argues why Matt Le Tissier makes one of his starting XIs from the last six decades ahead of David Beckham. It’s that sort of strong judgement that would have made Redknapp such a good England manager.

Wed: Sol Campbell says Gary Neville should be removed as England coach, allowing him to take his place. A bit arrogant from Sol, but he does raise the question of why Neville is allowed to carry on as a major Sky pundit and hold a key role with the England set up. There is a clear conflict of interests.

Gary Neville (left) talks with England manager Roy Hodgson during a training session on Tuesday

Thu: England beat San Marino 5-0… they would have had bigger problems if NFL star Dan Marino had come out of retirement at Wembley.

Fri: England U21s do well to overcome Croatia but can’t help feeling Roy Hodgson has let Gareth Southgate down by not letting him have the best players to secure qualification for the finals.

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Back Heel

Wayne Rooney failed to fill his boots in the 5-0 sleepwalk over San Marino but his goal from a penalty edges him close to overtaking Sir Bobby Charlton’s England record of 49 international goals.

He should move even closer in Estonia. As it stands, only Jimmy Greaves (44), Gary Lineker (48) and Charlton stand ahead of Rooney.

Without taking anything away from Rooney, there are more cheap international goals about than there were in Lineker’s day let alone in the Greaves and Charlton era.

That said, for some of his faults Rooney is the only current England player who would have got close to making England’s 1966 World Cup-winning side, or indeed the Italia 90 team which reached the semi-finals and with a bit more luck could have won it.

England captain Wayne Rooney scores from the penalty spot against San Marino on Thursday

Given that Hodgson has made him England captain there seems little doubt Rooney will surpass Chartlon’s record perhaps by the end of this season.

No doubt Sir Bobby will salute Rooney but anybody who thinks the record books and statistics tell the whole story are misguided.

Indeed, while Sir Geoff Hurst eventually took the goalscoring plaudits with his unique hat-trick in the 1966 final after he took the place of Greaves - the best ever instinctive English striker - and Bobby Moore was the inspiration of the team, in many ways it was Charlton who was the talisman.

Sir Bobby Charlton (left) scores for England against Austria in an international at Wembley in 1965

Certainly, Charlton was the England player who football fans around the world viewed with most awe.