Mesut Ozil plans to run down Arsenal contract despite Gunners wanting him gone and stands to pick up £18m more in wages
ARSENAL are going to have to put up with Mesut Ozil and his huge £350,000-a-week wages for one more year, according to reports.
The German playmaker could not even make the 20-man matchday squad for the trip to Manchester City in midweek - a decision coach Mikel Arteta described as "tactical".
With 12 months left to run on his deal, Ozil is reportedly happy to stay in North London no matter what.
describe the Gunners as keen to get rid of the 31-year-old, in order to free up some much-needed cash.
Ozil will earn a basic salary of £18million in the coming year and is comfortably the club's top earner.
That breaks down as £50,000 per day and a healthy £2,083 for every hour that passes between now and his contract's June 30 2021 expiry date.
There was fury among fans when it emerged that he was the only senior star to reject a 12.5 per cent pay cut requested by the board amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The economic crisis of the virus and football's subsequent shutdown, added to by the diminishing chances of qualifying for the Champions League, have made for an increasingly bleak financial picture at Emirates Stadium.
Yet, just like last summer, there appears to be little if any interest from another club in trying to persuade Ozil to make a move.
The matter would be far more simple for Arteta if he was able to get the best out of the World Cup winner.
In the 2016/17 season, which ended six months before he put pen to paper on his club record contract, Ozil had produced a vital 12 goals and 14 assists for the Gunners.
And the year before he endeared himself to Arsenal fans with 20 assists, on top of eight strikes.
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But his tally stands at a measly one goal in the Premier League this time around - despite starting all-but one of the league games between the start of November and the lockdown.
Ozil may get a reprieve for the trip to Brighton on Saturday, a match with a very different tactical outlook to the 3-0 loss at Manchester City.
No longer with a game in hand, Arteta's side are eight points back from fourth place and have won more games than only the bottom-six sides in 2019/20.
