Arsenal: Ozil, Alexis Worth Same As Paul Pogba But That Settles Nothing

Arsenal are still meddling with contract negotiations with their two superstars and rumors indicate they want a major raise. Deserved, but not coming.

Recent Arsenal always manages to have one or two superstars on their squad. Normally, those superstars reach the point where they don’t buy into Wenger’s ‘lack of ambition’ and they move on.

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Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil bring about the same worries, but given the increased competitive edge that Arsenal are showing lately, the fears are slowly dissipating. Yet they still rest on the whims of current contract negotiations.

According to the most recent rumors, both Alexis and Ozil want wages along the lines of what Wayne Rooney, Paul Pogba and Zlatan garner at Manchester United. Sorry, Mercenary United.

There is no doubting that they are worth just as much as those superstars over in Manchester, but I don’t believe that means that they should get the same. Perry Groves said it best, saying that Arsenal has a much different sage structure.

As it stands, both our superstars are making £140,000 in wages, the two highest players on the team. If rumors are to believed, that means they are seeking to nearly double their wages in order to remain in North London.

Again, do they deserve it? Probably. And Arsenal can pay them, as Groves said. But that doesn’t mean that they should.

I’m going to do the ‘sentimental’ thing here, where I preach about how our Gunners are a different side. They don’t rely on any one man and therefore their wage structure should reflect that. When Ozil struggles, the Gunner’s survive. When Alexis struggles, same thing.

They are superstars in their own right, but superstars work differently at Arsenal.

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You can’t tell me that Alexis and Mesut Ozil have been that much better than the likes of Santi Cazorla, Laurent Koscielny or Theo Walcott. Not this year at least. Absolutely they should be paid more, but to put so much monetary gap between the loyalists and the superstars is a bit unlike the club we love.

In conclusion, the two superstars are worth it, yet they aren’t. Manchester United may be willing to spend all then money in the world on just about anything in the hopes of achieving a return to the top, but look at them. Has that money spent helped them? No.

Arsenal are not like that, nor do I wish they were. No one it so important to the club that they deserve over twice the wages of anyone else.

It’s a tough call. If it’s between paying them and seeing them walk, I feel like I can’t possibly choose the latter. I’d be an utter idiot.

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I just hope that these rumors are just rumors and Wenger and the two parties can work out a middle ground. Maybe £200,000 or something like that. Show the world that you can maintain superstars with atmosphere and culture rather than pounds of cash. That’d be kind of cool.