PAUL MERSON has claimed that other clubs hate the thought of signing Mesut Ozil because of his £350,000-a-week wages.
The German has been linked with a move away from the Emirates after entering the final 18 months of the lucrative Gunners deal he penned back in January 2018.
The 31-year-old’s agent has revealed there are already a number of offers on the table from across the world, including at Turkish club Fenerbahce.
Yet the World Cup-winning midfielder is determined to see out his Arsenal contract and remain at the top-level for the next four years.
And Merson has admitted that finding a buyer for Ozil is virtually impossible due to his astronomical wages, despite the club in need of a summer overhaul to become competitive again.
The former Gunners ace told the Daily Star: “Unless Mikel Arteta gets some players in and out of Arsenal this summer this team is going to finish seventh or eighth next season.
“I’m not surprised Mesut Ozil’s agent says he’s not going anywhere though. Where can he go on that money? If he was on £50,000-a-week everybody would be trying to sign him but because he’s on £350,000 everyone hates him.
“Arteta needs to get players out though, and I don’t think he’ll be too upset that Sokratis says he’ll go if he’s not playing enough. I like players who are honest like that to be fair to him. It’s better than being prepared to just sit around picking up your money.
“Arsenal need to get their wage bill down and get rid of players who don’t have a future there. So Sokratis is expendable.
“But I hope Arteta gets to bring in a few too because he hasn’t really got his own players there yet.
“He will need a good pre-season and some new signings but I can see progress already even though they went out of the Europa League.”
Meanwhile, captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s £300k-a-week wage demands could force Arsenal to SELL him in the summer.
The 30-year-old is in talks over a new deal but the Gunners are said to be reluctant to give him the 30 per cent pay rise he is after.
Aubameyang’s current contract sees him bag around £200k-a-week – depending on bonuses – and expires in the summer of 2021.
