In Monday’s edition, Ian Ladyman in the Daily Mail defended Mesut Ozil and the pressure put on him by the rest of the media and public to take a paycut.

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 28: Mesut Ozil of Arsenal looks on from the substitute bench ahead of the UEFA Europa League group F match between Arsenal FC and Eintracht Frankfurt at Emirates Stadium on November 28, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 28: Mesut Ozil of Arsenal looks on from the substitute bench ahead of the UEFA Europa League group F match between Arsenal FC and Eintracht Frankfurt at Emirates Stadium on November 28, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Contrary to the reports doing the rounds in the media, no doubt placed there by someone at the club to try and apply public pressure on Ozil, it wasn’t that the German was refusing to take a paycut to hep the club.

daily mirror ozil pay cut back page
EXCLUSIVE! Daily Mirror 21 April 2020

What he wanted was proof that the club weren’t using this crisis to their own benefit simply to slash their over-inflated wage bill before he agreed.

mesut ozil daily mail pay cut
Daily Mail 21 April 2020

Can you blame him?

All we’ve heard since he signed his mega deal was how much the club wanted him off the books because they’d given him too much.

8 may 2018 sun backpage ozil
S*n backpage, 8 May 2018

Ozil is a very generous player.

We’ve covered many stories on this site that get little-to-no coverage elsewhere.

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Ian Ladyman, Daily Mail, 4 May 2020

Do you know how much someone like Mesut Ozil has to give away before the Daily Mail starts to defend you?

Trust me, it’s a lot more than £80,000…

Mesut Ozil’s pay cut refusal isn’t all it seems

Mesut Özil donates another £81,333 to charity