Marco Reus has been identified as a potential replacement for Alexis Sanchez or Mesut Ozil should Arsenal fail to extend the contracts of their two star players.

Arsenal’s priority is still to persuade both players to stay on beyond the expiry date of their existing deals in 2018, but they would be extremely reluctant to let the pair play into the final year of their contracts if no agreement could be reached by next August.

It is understood that offers of around £180,000-a-week have been made although both players will be well aware that salaries in excess of £200,000-a-week have become increasingly common for the very elite Premier League players.

“It doesn’t really depend on me so much as it does the club, if they want to show confidence in me,” said Sanchez last week, in apparent reference to his potential salary.