Piers Morgan has hit out at Arsenal star Mesut Ozil for refusing to join the vast majority of his teammates in taking a 12.5 per cent pay cut.
Ozil, who is the Gunners’ highest earner at £350,000 a week, is one of three members of the squad who haven’t accepted the terms put to them by the club amid the coronavirus crisis.
The German international is open to accepting the pay cut in future, but only after football’s financial picture amid the worldwide pandemic becomes a little clearer.
Arsenal are the first Premier League club to agree wage cuts with their players, with those who agreed to the proposals taking a 12.5 per cent reduction until March 2021.
(Image: Offside via Getty Images)
In the terms of the agreement the players would be due huge bonuses if they can qualify for the Champions League either this season or next, with players sold for profit eligible to get their missing money refunded.
Gunners fan Morgan wasted no time in condemning Ozil after Mirror Sport’s John Cross had broken the news of his refusal on Monday evening.
Quote tweeting Cross’s tweet linking to the story, Morgan wrote: “Disgraceful, but no surprise – Ozil’s been getting £350k-a-week for doing nothing since 2017.”
(Image: Twitter – @piersmorgan)
Ozil’s agent Dr Erkut Sogut recently stated that players should not take pay cuts during their ongoing lack of action, instead saying that wage deferrals would be a better option – an opinion that the PFA agree with.
“Deferral is an option but not to agree a cut today when the clubs may still make the same profit as last year,” he said.
“What the exact financial impact is on the clubs, we can see three to six months later – but we can’t see it today.”
