Arsenal open to selling Mesut Ozil as Unai Emery faces pressure to reduce wage bill

Costly: Mesut Ozil is, by far, the biggest earner at Arsenal
REUTERS
James Olley31 May 2019

Unai Emery is open to selling Mesut Ozil this summer if a suitable buyer can be found.

The 30-year-old is under contract until 2021 and is happy to stay at the club despite not always featuring under the Spaniard during his first season in charge of the Gunners.

Ozil made 34 appearances in all competitions and fought his way back into Emery’s preferred starting line-up towards the end of the campaign, although Aaron Ramsey’s season-ending hamstring injury in April was also a contributing factor.

But Emery has limited funds to rebuild the squad after Arsenal were soundly beaten by Chelsea in the Europa League Final to condemn them to another season without Champions League football.

The Gunners have around £40million to spend and although Ramsey, Petr Cech and Danny Welbeck will all depart, there is a degree of pressure to control Arsenal’s wage bill.

Ozil’s £350,000-a-week salary is, therefore, a consideration in that context and with the playmaker not an integral part of Emery's team, the manager is thought to be willing to bow to those financial considerations by allowing him to leave.

Arsenal are not actively trying to force Ozil out and in any case a key problem will be finding a buyer to take on his wage.

Inter Milan expressed an interest in January but the Gunners may be asked to pay a percentage of Ozil’s salary in any agreement.

There is also genuine interest from China but Ozil is not interested in moving to a substandard league at this stage of his career.

Although there has been no breakdown in relations between player and manager, Ozil is thought to be disappointed at being substituted for teenager Joe Willock during the Final in Baku with Arsenal needing to chase the game.

Willock was lively in his 12-minute cameo but Ozil’s withdrawal for a 19-year-old making only his eighth appearance in European football was a damning assessment of his ability to change a vital match in Arsenal’s favour.

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