Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has been discussing the current contract situation surrounding Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil.
In a recent interview with The Athletic, the German midfielder insisted that he would be staying at the Emirates Stadium until his contract with the club expires.
The 31-year-old former Real Madrid man is currently on a £350,000-per-week contract with the Gunners which expires in June next year.
So, in the latest episode of The Price of Football podcast, Maguire discussed Ozil’s contract and how much it will cost the north London club.
He said: “It will cost Arsenal somewhere in the region of £17m – that is his annual salary. This is sort of a legacy of what happens when players get into the last year of their contract.
“Clubs have now got to juggle two things. If the player goes away on a Bosman [transfer], if you look at the total cost of employing a player, it’s the transfer fee plus his wages.
“So, Mesut Ozil originally joined Arsenal in the summer of 2013, he signed a five-year deal. Arsenal have prevaricated on many deals, so it got to January 2018 and he still hadn’t renewed the contract.
“His value was effectively close to zero in the transfer market because at that stage, he can start talking to other clubs.
“So, Arsenal came in with a new three-year extension on his contract which more than doubled his wages. Of course, now, his relationship with the club appears to have soured somewhat.”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what Maguire had to say, the current situation regarding Ozil is a result of Arsenal allowing his contract to run close to expiry in 2018.
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Certainly, looking at the player’s market value according to Transfermarkt, the decision to award Ozil with a bumper three-year contract in 2018 was a poor one.
In May of that year, the German’s market value stood at £45m – the highest his value has ever reached – however, since then, it has consistently fallen and now stands at just £10.8m.
So, it certainly seems that Arsenal are currently feeling the effects of their decisions surrounding Ozil’s contract two years ago.