Arsenal were happy to pay Mesut Ozil a record £350,000-a-week given the same offer had been on the table for 18 months, according to the club’s former transfer negotiator Dick Law.
The former Real Madrid playmaker had threatened to run down his previous contract and leave on a lucrative free transfer before committing his future to the north London club.
Ozil agreed to sign the extension at the end of a chaotic four-week period last January which saw Arsenal break their club-record transfer fee to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund.
Alexis Sanchez, who was also in a precarious contractual situation, left for Manchester United in a deal which saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan move in the opposite direction, while long-serving striker Olivier Giroud was granted permission to move to Chelsea in order to enhance his World Cup selection hopes.
It appeared as though Arsenal were prepared to offer Ozil whatever it took to save face having seen Sanchez depart for Old Trafford, but Law denied that was the situation in a wide-ranging interview with Goal.
‘The talks were always very cordial,’ said Law. ‘Erkut Sogut is the lawyer who represents him and it was always cordial.
‘The bottom line was what he was asking for was not just far from what our top salary was, it was significantly further.
‘Their strategy was to come in with a number as high as they possibly could and see if we would bite if we were desperate.
‘Ironically enough, he signed for what we had offered a year-and-a-half earlier.’
Ozil has struggled to win over Unai Emery, who replaced Arsene Wenger little over six months after the German put pen to paper.
The 30-year-old has been linked with a move away this summer, but Arsenal are yet to receive concrete interest, while Turkish club Fenerbahce released a statement earlier this week confirming they were not in a position to compete for his services.
A statement read: ‘Mesut Ozil, with his career and standing, successfully represents our country abroad.
‘He is an important value known with the identity of Fenerbahce. ‘However, Fenerbahce does not have a proposal for Mesut Ozil.
‘Under the current economic conditions, such a step is not possible for both parties.
‘Our president, Ali Koc, made statements on the subject in the WinWin program held on June 20 and emphasised that this could not be realised in the short term.’
