For all the talks of incomings and outgoings this summer, the Gunners main concern this transfer window, deep down, has surely been about the immediate futures of their star duo, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. With less than one year remaining on their contracts, the club has so far been unsuccessful with their contract extension talks, but there has been movement…
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The world class duo are set to become amongst the highest earners in the league if they are to accept Arsenal’s contract offer. The Sun claim to have an ‘exclusive’ from Neil Ashton, he suggests that Arsenal are now confident to tying Ozil to a new deal worth £225,000 per week. The would be a large increase on his current wages of around £140,000 per week, though considering inflation in the market at the moment, you can see why.
But if you thought that was a lot, Alexis Sanchez has reportedly been offered £300,000 per week, and it isn’t clear whether or not the Chilean will accept these terms yet, but Wenger has recently said how he is not ‘super optimistic’ the clubs star man will sign on.
For me, I think Arsenal have made this latest offer to Alexis as a ‘we tried’ plea to the fans. It’s clear to me that Alexis is considering his future because of his ambition and not because he wants more money. If there is any chance of him extending, I think it would be during the season, if Arsenal are genuinely looking like they could win the title or at least be amongst it.
Ozil is a bit different, he is not in demand like Alexis and doesn’t have too much choice about where he goes. He loves London and Arsenal and he has come out several times and suggested that he wants to stay at the club – that’s something Alexis has not done at all. That in itself speaks volumes – but at least Arsenal are trying to keep both.
If Arsenal manage to keep hold of both players, you feel like the fans may forgive the club for a lack of new signings, so maybe they’ll wait until deadline day to announce Ozil!