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Mesut Ozil will stay at Arsenal and intends to see out his contract with the Gunners.
There had been speculation that the former German international could be set to join Turkish club Fenerbahçe this summer, but his agent Erkul Sogat has dismissed the idea, saying he will remain at the Emirates next season.
It is no secret that Arsenal would be happy to move on the playmaker. He is the highest earner at the club on £350,000 a week, and, whilst the rest of the squad have agreed to take a 12.5% pay cut for the next year, Ozil and two other unnamed teammates have refused to participate in the scheme.
Despite this, Ozil has every intention of remaining in North London until June 2021, conscious probably that, wherever he goes next, he is unlikely to be able to command anything like the same salary package.
In and out of the team under Una Emery, Ozil had become a virtually guaranteed starter for Mikel Arteta before the season’s suspension.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.