Arsenal are doing their utmost to get shot of Mesut Ozil, but it’s proving difficult because no club is willing to pay his astronomical wages.
According to The Sun the Gunners reached out last month to Italian sides Juventus and Inter Milan in the hope they might take Ozil off their hands. However, perhaps not surprisingly, they baulked at his £350,000-a-week wage demands.
Instead, Juventus opted to sign Aaron Ramsey on a pre-contract agreement and according to BBC Sport, the Welshman has penned a four-year deal “that will earn him over £400,000 a week”.
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Last night Juventus confirmed the free transfer deal - which starts in June - via their official online outlets. In a message to Arsenal fans Ramsey said: “It is with a heavy heart that I leave after 11 incredible years. Thank you. You welcomed me as a teenager and have been there through all the highs and lows I’ve encountered during my time at the club.”
Nice little earner
The Sun says that the Gunners also tried to cut a deal with Inter Milan, offering them Ozil in return for Ivan Perisic, but again the proposition foundered on the fact that the Serie A side can’t meet his weekly wage, and apparently they were “stunned by his demands”.
The impasse with Ozil is severely hampering Arsenal’s attempts to strengthen their squad because of the financial burden.
The Sun has worked out that the German is earning £9,000 a minute at the Emirates, “costing the cash-strapped Gunners £9.1m since August”.
Yet despite that eye-watering figure, Ozil has appeared in only 14 matches in the Premier League this season, and he has only started one game in 2019. As the Sun says, that works out at him having “played just 1,056 minutes out of a possible 2,340”.
Ozil wins out over Emery?
Worryingly for Arsenal fans, former Gunner Ray Parlour believes that the situation is now so serious that Emery’s position is in danger of being compromised.
The Daily Star quotes Parlour likening Emery’s predicament to the one he endured when he was in charge of Paris Saint-Germain.
The French champions had signed Neymar from Barcelona and he and Emery’s relationship broke down to the point where the Spaniard parted company with the club.
“It’s been a little bit like PSG under Neymar,” said Parlour. “[Emery] lost the dressing room and Neymar was pulling the strings there… Neymar ended up getting him the sack. Maybe it could be the same at Arsenal.”
Professional pride
Parlour believes Arsenal will struggle to find a club to take on Ozil’s weekly wage, so the only way out of the hole for the Gunners is to appeal to the German’s professional pride.
“There’s got to be a time in your career, when you’re over 30 you know you’re on a slippery slope. You have to come to a decision,” said Parlour.
“When you’re left out you want a reaction from the player - especially from training. Show the attitude you want to get back into the team somehow.”
