Arsenal paid Mesut Ozil a loyalty bonus last month… earning the outcast midfielder a reported £8million!
The contractual payment was part of the £350,000-a-week, three-year deal he signed with the Gunners in January 2018.
The Athletic claim Arsenal put the clause in to ensure Ozil stayed at the Emirates until at least the end of his contract, which runs until next summer.
Despite being paid a loyalty bonus only weeks ago, the German midfielder has not played for the Gunners since March and is yet to make a matchday squad under Mikel Arteta this season.
He has been frozen out at the Emirates and Arsenal chiefs want to offload Ozil by terminating his contract or selling him.
However, TyC Sports on Sunday reported that Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr has made a £5m bid for Ozil, but the player himself is said to have rejected the offer as he wants to see out the final year of his deal.
ESPN claims the 31-year-old playmaker is actually still hoping to play for Arsenal once again.
Meanwhile, Gunners legend Martin Keown believes Ozil’s exile has reached an ‘unhealthy’ stage.
He told talkSPORT: “One assumes that Arteta would’ve given him an opportunity, and he’s not really happy with Ozil’s work ethic.
“He’s not someone the others can learn off. I actually think he’s got a good heart, because of what he does for charity, but when he questions giving up a percentage of his wage which affects everyone else, I don’t think it’s his place to do that. He needs to fall in line.
“If you think of the money it’s costing Arsenal… £18million-a-year, that’s the equivalent of the interest payments when they took out a loan on the Emirates Stadium.
“That’s how restrictive that has been. They need to cut their losses and pay him off.
“It sends a message to the group, creates a new culture, and allows them to move on, because at the moment it’s become unhealthy.”
