Sami Khedira transfer latest: Arsenal and Chelsea still in the running for Khedira as midfielder left out of Uefa Super Cup side

Khedira was a mere observer from the bench after he travelled to Cardiff yet was left out of the 18-man squad that beat Seville

Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira was left-out of the squad for the 2-0 Uefa Super Cup win over Seville (Getty Images)

Sami Khedira looks closer to a Real Madrid exit after he was left out of the squad that won the Uefa Super Cup on Tuesday night with a 2-0 win over Seville in Cardiff.

The World Cup winner has only recently returned to the Real side following his exploits in Brazil, but he didn’t even make the bench for the European curtain-raiser despite travelling with Carlo Ancelotti’s side to the Welsh capital. He was seen looking miserable on the sidelines as Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice to give Real their first piece of silverware this season.

Both Arsenal and Chelsea have been linked with the 27-year-old and despite Arsene Wenger’s claims that he is not interested in signing Khedira, the Gunners are seen as the most likely destination.

The former Stuttgart player only has a year remaining on his contract, meaning he could negotiate a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu for free in January, and Real are said to want to sell Khedira after a summer of extravagant spending saw them land James Rodriguez, Toni Kroos and Keylor Navas for a combined £91m.

Arsenal remain active in the transfer window after Wenger confirmed he will further strengthen his squad should the opportunity arise. The defensive midfield role has been a problem for the Gunners over the past few years, and Khedira would be able to fill the role should the Frenchman look to sign him from Madrid.

The recent appointment of Mikel Arteta as captain could mean that Wenger will not look to sign another midfielder, although he showed no favouritism towards his skipper last season as Thomas Vermaelen was kept out of the starting line-up by Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker.

Chelsea look to have completed their transfer business for the summer, although you’d be a fool to completely rule Jose Mourinho out of the market when the window is still open, but their addition of Cesc Fabregas looks to have quenched the Portuguese’s thirst to strengthen his midfield.

John Obi Mikel could still leave Stamford Bridge this summer, though whether Mourinho would then shell out around £25m for Khedira is unknown as the Blues look to comply with Uefa’s Financial Fair Play ruling. The departures of David Luiz, Demba Ba and Kevin De Bruyne for around £72m has helped Mourinho reinvest in Fabragas, Diego Costa and Filipe Luis, and there is still a significant sum of the Blues’ transfer budget left to spend.

Khedira looks to be on the outside at Real as Luka Modric partnered Kroos in the midfield, with both Isco and Asier Illarimendi prefereed on the bench to Khedira. First-team regular Xabi Alonso is also due to return to the team after serving his suspension for celebrating where he shouldn’t have been during last season Champions League final, meaning Khedira could struggle to be named as a substitute, let alone secure a place in Ancelotti’s first team.

Ancelotti did stress that Khedira is not for sale ahead of the showdown in Cardiff, but should the German decide he wants to force a move by handing in a transfer request, the club would be unlikely to stand in his way.