Arsenal: Mesut Ozil Contract Shows Upstanding Character

Arsenal has been in ongoing contract talks with Mesut Ozil, but if the rumors are true, that’s ending, and with it a testament to the German’s character.

The only thing I check the news for these days is to see if Arsenal and Mesut Ozil have come to an agreement. Once that happens, I can get on with life and caring about other things, like Alexis Sanchez’s contract.

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But for now, the search goes on. Of course, there will be rumors of breaking news, and most of the time I will ignore them, but this latest one from the Sun struck me as particularly telling.

Granted, it’s nothing more than a rumor, but the report indicates that Ozil will claim a contract of £200,000 a week. Now that’s a lot of money. But it’s only £10,000 a week more than his previous contract, the original one.

That means that, if this rumor holds true, then Mesut Ozil has truly put Arsenal on a pedestal.

I have no doubts that Wenger wants to pay Ozil as much money as he wants, but the Gunner’s are well-known penny-pinchers. Still, that’s not what has been holding up these contracts. Ozil and Alexis want to see that Arsenal are for real in this trophy-hunting game.

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So if the rumored amount is true, then Ozil was not holding the Gunner’s hostage for more money. There is no reason why the German maestro couldn’t reel in a contract worth £250,000 or more. That’s well within his abilities to justify.

Especially when you stack this supposed new contract up against everyone else in the league. I won’t even get into Paul Pogba’s contract, worth three times what Ozil is making now. Nor will I get into the various other overpaid divas (Hazard, Rooney, Toure).

The one man I will highlight is David Silva. Ozil would pull in the same wages as David Silva. The Spaniard has a very similar skillset as Ozil, just in far smaller quantities. Ozil is head and shoulders better than his Spanish counterpart, so to settle for the same wages is such a testament to his upstanding character and dedication to Wenger’s cause.

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I find this particularly touching. Now more than ever, the need to get this deal done is paramount. Ozil is the lifeblood of this attack and if this rumored deal is true and he is taking only the smallest of pay raises to stay with the Gunners, then we have found a gem.