Poor Mesut Ozil. Well, not literally, as he’s Arsenal’s most handsomely paid player, but there seems to be no real place for him under manager Mikel Arteta. The German international and World Cup champion was frozen out under the previous manager, Unai Emery, too.
Additionally, his astronomical wages make him extremely difficult to ship off to another club. Like Real Madrid duo Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez, realistic suitors are few and far between.
However, Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr are interested, and they even made a sensationally expensive offer, according to Turkish outlet Fanatik (h/t Daily Mail).
How sensational? £15 million per year. Al-Nassr want to sign the attacking midfielder, who did not see a single minute of playing time in the restart period, this summer in spite of his contract expiring next summer.
He’ll be available on a free at the end of this upcoming season, and reportedly Al-Nassr are willing to wait until then if needs be, but there is a plot twist here.
The Telegraph claims that Ozil is wanted by a club in Qatar as well, but he doesn’t want to leave right now. And why not? As he makes a reported 18.2 million GBP per year, essentially just to partake in training.
This summer, the 31-year-old, who has scored 33 times in 184 appearances for the Emirates club, has been training with former Gunners star Mathieu Flamini.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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