My preference is to remain at Arsenal, says Ozil

Mesut Özil says that his preference would “definitely” be to sign a new contract at Arsenal. The midfielder has entered the final 12 months of his £140,000-a-week deal and, in the absence of offers from any of the European clubs who could meet his wage demands, he is set to stay at Emirates Stadium for the upcoming season.

The bigger issue has been whether Özil will re-sign at the club he joined from Real Madrid for £42.5m in 2013, with one of his options being to wait until January 2018 to see whether he gets a lucrative pre-contract offer from an overseas club relating to a free agent move in the summer.

Arsenal, though, have worked hard to put forward an attractive deal of their own, which is worth a basic £280,000 a week. So far it has been a waiting game, with Özil keen to keep his options open as he moves into the new season.

“It is definitely my preference to stay,” Özil said, at Arsenal’s launch of their new third kit in Sydney. “It is such a great club and I have always said that I feel very good at Arsenal. Once everyone is back in London, we will sit down and discuss about the future.

“For now, the most important thing is our pre-season and getting through the tour, training and getting fitness. When I’m back in London, we will sit down and discuss.”

Özil also commented on the situation of his team-mate Alexis Sánchezwho, like him, has entered the final year on his contract. Unlike Özil, though, Sánchez has elite-level suitors – with Manchester City chief among them.

“It would hit the team quite hard if he left because he’s a player who always delivers,” Özil said. “It would be a setback to winning the title but, in the end, it’s the player’s decision. I hope Alexis stays but I don’t know what the status is, to be honest.

“I value him a lot as a player and he’s very well suited to the game Arsenal play. From a personal view, I’d really appreciate if he stays. But it’s the player’s decision after all and there’s not much more I can comment on that.”

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Michael Kors Buys Italy's Versace Fashion House For $2.12 Billion

Fashion company Michael Kors is buying Versace, the Italian luxury brand founded by Gianni Versace in 1978, for $2.12 billion. The two fashion houses made the announcement Tuesday, one day after speculation spread about a potential deal. Donatella Versace, the artistic director of the Milan-based fashion house who helped lead the company after her brother's death in 1997, said it's the perfect time for the company to join with Michael Kors. "It has been more than 20 years since I took over the company along with my brother Santo and daughter Allegra," Donatella Versace said in a news release. "I am proud that Versace remains very strong in both fashion and modern culture."

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The leader of the Islamic State group urged followers to burn their enemies everywhere and target "media centers of the infidels," according to an audio recording released Thursday that the extremists said was by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The reclusive leader of Islamic State, who has only appeared in public once, also vowed to continue fighting and lavished praise on his jihadis for their valor in the battlefield — despite the militants' loss of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in July. "You soldiers of the caliphate, heroes of Islam and carriers of banners: light a fire against your enemies," said al-Baghdadi, a shadowy cleric who has been surrounded by controversy since the Sunni terror group emerged from al-Qaida in Iraq, its forerunner. Russian officials said in June there was a "high probability" that al-Baghdadi had died in a Russian airstrike on the outskirts of the Syrian city of Raqqa, the group's de facto capital. US officials later said

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