Ozil ready to take ‘biggest pay cut’ at Arsenal on one condition

Mesut Ozil is ready to take a higher pay cut than his Arsenal team-mates if the club give him certain assurances, according to reports.

Arsenal issued a statement on Monday evening confirming that they had “reached a voluntary agreement with our first-team players, head coach and core coaching staff” to reduce their annual earnings during the suspension of the Premier League due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

The deal will “help support the club at this critical time” and means Arsenal follow Southampton and West Ham in reaching such an arrangement, although both those teams have deferred wages of their playing staff rather than cutting them.

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However, the Daily Mirror reported that Ozil was one of three Arsenal players to reject the proposal with newspaper adding that ‘he may be willing to do it in the future’ but ‘did not want to rush into a decision’.

And now ESPN provide us with more details with Ozil ready to take a pay cut but he ‘wants assurances over the club’s future financial plans’.

ESPN adds: ‘Ozil turned the club down because of a lack of effective communication over how the money would be used and the future financial implications, rather than for personal financial reasons’.

The report continues by saying that the German playmaker – who has made 23 appearances in all competitions this season – is ‘willing to take a higher pay cut than the 12.5% agreed elsewhere’ but feels the process has been rushed.

It concludes by saying that ‘a verbal agreement has been reached but the paperwork is not completely finalised.’

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