Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil has revealed that he received a ridiculous offer worth £100m net over five years to move to China.
The 28-year-old’s future at Arsenal remains in doubt as his current contract expires next summer and there has been no suggestion that a renewal is close to being agreed.
In turn, it’s no surprise that rival offers have come in, most notably this package from China which would have seen him earn £100m net over five years, as per the Metro.
It’s claimed in his new book that the German international was approached by an unnamed CSL club, but evidently money isn’t his sole motivation or main priority as he remains in north London for the time being.
“When I got an offer from China last summer I didn’t need advice because the offer was too absurd. The Chinese were prepared to pay me £100million net over a period of five years.
“A fairy tale amount of money that went beyond the limits of my imagination.”
That would work out at £380,000-a-week after tax in England, and there is no way that Arsenal or Arsene Wenger would be willing to sign off on that level of salary as they continue to keep in place their wage structure at the risk of losing key players.
Both Ozil and Alexis Sanchez are still demanding more money, and both could be set to leave the Emirates this summer as Arsenal might be forced into it if new deals can’t be agreed in order to avoid losing them for nothing in just over 12 months time.
Having seen his form dip dramatically over the past few months, Ozil arguably needs to do more than just show his loyalty to Arsenal in his book and start producing consistently on the pitch again.