Arsene Wenger was asked about his previous comments in which he joked about having to borrow money from a bank in order to get enough for Mesut Ozil to sign a contract extension with Arsenal and now he’s explained these a bit more.

Speaking ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League clash against Ludogorets, the boss revealed that contract negotiations have always been difficult. The only difference now is that the numbers are bigger.

“It was always difficult,” he said when questioned about his Ozil comments.

“What has changed is the numbers but it was always difficult to keep the good players because they are wanted by other clubs.

“Players want to get the maximum as they only have 10 years playing at the top level.”

This is why, more often than not, as players get older, they do tend to jump ship for a larger amount of cash.

(JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)
(JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Bacary Sagna was one such example when he signed for Manchester City a couple of seasons ago after running down his contract in north London.

The right-back was 31 at the time (33 now) so, although it isn’t nice seeing him play for a rival, most of us could understand that he wanted one last big contract to get the most he could before retiring.

When they’re younger, fans can be slightly less forgiving.

As far as Mesut Ozil’s contract is concerned, I don’t think Wenger would be joking so openly about it if he didn’t know there would be a positive outcome.