Arsenal not negotiating Mesut Ozil payoff - report

Updated 09/10/2020 at 19:50 GMT

Mesut Ozil is on £350,000 a week at Arsenal, and his contract runs until the end of the current season. There had been speculation that the club were looking to pay off Ozil to bring the contract to an early end but reports suggest that neither club nor player are entertaining such a possibility.

Mesut Ozil has not featured for Arsenal this season

Image credit: Getty Images

Arsenal have not considered ending Mesut Ozil’s contract before it finishes next summer, nor have they discussed the possibility with the player, according to reports.

Stories earlier this week had suggested that Arsenal were prepared to negotiate with Ozil in order to terminate his contract.

He has wages of £350,000 a week and is yet to feature for the first team this season, and is not included in Arsenal’s Europa League squad.

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According to ESPN, the 31-year-old midfielder aims to fight his way back into contention under Mikel Arteta, and the club do not intend to pay him off as they have not got in contact with him or his representatives about it.

No single reason has been given for Ozil’s lack of opportunities since the coronavirus lockdown, but he is just one of three players at the club to refuse to take a 12.5% pay cut, questioning the club’s plans for future redundancies.

Ozil then offered to pay the wages of team mascot Gunnersaurus who will no longer be employed by the club for the foreseeable future. This has been seen by some as a PR stunt intended to embarrass Arsenal, who have also announced the redundancy of 55 non-playing staff.

Arsenal spent around £45 million on deadline day for Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey.