Sir Alex Ferguson has been alerted by a seeming discontent growing in Real Madrid playmaker Mesut Ozil, with Manchester United ready to test Real's resolve in keeping the German international.
Ozil signed for Real Madrid a couple of years ago, and quickly established himself as a first-team regular. However, this season there have been quite a few people criticizing the 24-year-old's performances, as Real continue to struggle to keep pace with league leaders and archrivals Barcelona.
The arrival of Luka Modric, who has looked good whenever given an opportunity, from Tottenham, has also further driven reports that Ozil could be on his way out.
The Spanish press have widely reported some discontent growing between Jose Mourinho and Ozil, after the Portuguese was not too amused with his player's performances in recent games.
When asked about Ozil's underwhelming game against Real Betis, in the game they lost 1-0 last weekend, Mourinho was clearly frustrated and refused to either support or criticize his player.
"There are questions that you ask me that are individualised and questions related to a player, you're asking me to do an analysis of a personal situation," he said. "I could answer with other questions.
"What did you think? What do you think about him against Betis? What do you think of his performance compared to other matches? I neither can nor want to say much more."
Ozil is clearly not indispensable for Real right now, and if Manchester United come up with a suitable offer, believed to be in the range of £25-30 million ($40-48 million), Real would consider making a deal, according to The Sun.
Ferguson, who has been linked with Ozil several times in the past, already has Shinji Kagawa, whose best position is playing right behind the striker, and with Robin Van Persie as well as Wayne Rooney playing well, it can be questioned whether the need for the German at Old Trafford is there or not.
However, there is no doubting Ozil's talents, and any team that has him can only grow in quality. So could Ozil realistically be a Manchester United player soon?