“We are pleased to announce that we have a voluntary agreement with our players and coaching staff that will help the club in this difficult time.”
For example, Premier League club FC Arsenal announced on Monday that its stars would not pay their salary. The players therefore waive 12.5 percent of their wages for a year.
However, the English daily newspaper “Daily Mirror” now claims that not all professionals have agreed. As one of three Arsenal stars, ex-international Mesut Özil (31) is said to have rejected the agreed salary waiver! The other two names are not mentioned.
Özil has been playing at the London club since 2013 and has been said to be the top earner of the “Gunners” for some time. Weekly salary: around 400,000 euros – per week.
According to the report, Özil had stated that he might make financial cuts in the future – but he wanted to be able to see beforehand what effects the Corona crisis would actually have on the club.
A statement by Özil consultant Erkut Sögüt, who had already indicated this at the beginning of April, fits in with this: “Postponing salary would be an option. There is currently no waiver if the clubs may make the same profit as last year. We’ll see the exact financial impact in three to six months, but not yet today. ”
The English players’ union had also called on the clubs to pay deferrals instead of cuts.
In the podcast “Steilcast” published on Monday, Sögüt also criticized Arsenal’s approach. “It is not enough for a club to make a proposal to a member of the team and ask them to find a consensus with all other players. This is not how individual contract discussions should go. “
Sögüt has repeatedly emphasized Özil’s generosity in terms of donations for social projects. Last year, the 31-year-old provided 1,000 operations for children worldwide, the feeding of 100,000 people in refugee camps in Turkey and Syria, and a donation of over 250,000 euros for medical interventions in sick children in Brazil.
By the way, Arsenal gives its stars the opportunity to get their full salary back. If Özil, Aubameyang and Co. reach the Champions League this or next season, they will receive their full salary and a bonus of EUR 115,000 retrospectively. 7.5 percent will be reimbursed for qualifying for the Europa League.
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