Arsenal are close to securing the future of Mesut Ozil to a lucrative new contract, which would make the Germany international the highest paid player in the league.
As first reported by Bild, Ozil has agreed to extend his stay at the Emirates by committing to a new three and a half year deal worth a reported £350,000 per week. Arsenal have denied that the deal has been signed yet but an agreement is understood to be close.
If Ozil signs the new deal that would represent the biggest success of the transfer window for Arsenal.
They have already signed Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Manchester United and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund but were facing the prospect of losing Ozil, who had just six months left on the contract he signed when he joined Arsenal from Real Madrid in 2013.
He would have been a free agent in the summer, and Manchester United were interested in signing him for free, but Arsene Wenger has grown in confidence after recent negotiations with Ozil’s representatives.
It is understood that Ozil’s representatives would have wanted £325k a week, and United balked at that after the signing of Sanchez. Instead, they pressed ahead with an extension for Juan Mata.
Now Arsenal have offered him far more than they have paid any player in the club’s history, more than doubling his current salary of £150,000 per week, and Ozil has decided to continue his time at the Emirates. He will now be under contract until the end of the 2020-21 season.
He will be boosted by the signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who signed for Arsenal on Wednesday morning.
The Gabon international is a club-record signing and will cost an initial £56m. Olivier Giroud is set to join Chelsea for £18m to make way, in a month when the Gunners have done well to shed many of their fringe players with Francis Coquelin and Theo Walcott also leaving the club.
