Arsene Wenger has said that it will cost the club ‘£100m’ to buy a player like Ozil when he was asked about the German as he picked up another Lifetime Achievement Award.
The German, as you might have noticed, has been at the centre of a load of nonsense since Unai Emery arrived, decided he didn’t fancy him and started leaving him out of the team.
But Arsene Wenger has suggested that it might have something to do with the huge contract Ozil is on and how that has affected the midfielder’s motivation levels.
He also highlighted the cost to Arsenal of replacing a player like Ozil, although it his comments about Ozil’s wages that have, naturally, garnered all the headlines.
“I feel that the length of the contract has nothing to do normally with the selection of the team. But sometimes there are special cases,” Wenger said after he was honoured with yet another Lifetime Achievement Award at the Laureus World Sports Awards.
"Sport is tremendous, I had a long career but my passion for sport is intact, my passion for human beings is intact."
He changed football and still considered a mentor by the world stars who played for him.
A man who truly understands #Laureus19 Sport for Good: Arsene Wenger pic.twitter.com/Wcin3t68G5
— #Laureus19 (@LaureusSport) February 18, 2019
“Most of the time now we think when we sign a player for five years we have a good player for five years. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that they practice, they play their best. Because they might be in their comfort zone.
“He has a contract but the problem is that if you want to buy a player like him you have to spend £100m.
“And to maintain the value of the player, beyond the Ozil case, it is more about the way football is structured.
“To buy players of top, top quality you need £100m. So the decision you have to make is whether you re-sign the player, who costs us nothing, or do we have the money to buy a new player?”
It has also been reported that Wenger was not happy at the club (Ivan Gazidis) sanctioning Ozil’s new deal when the wages were so ridiculous.
But, the club did and everybody who had any part in that deal is now gone while Mesut Ozil is still at the club, still being paid £350kpw, and still not playing.