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? ยฃ15 million per year.ย 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 runsย The Sports Bank.net, whichย is partnered withย News Now.ย Banks, the author ofย โNo, I Canโt Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,โ regularly contributes toย WGN TV,ย Sports Illustrated,ย Chicago Nowย andย SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer forย Chicago Tribune.com,ย onย Twitterย and hisย cat on Instagram.
