Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has reportedly received a huge £8m loyalty bonus after the club were unable to sell him in the transfer window.
He has not played a game for the gunners for several months. But they are still counting the cost of their inability to offload the playmaker.
According to The Athletic, Özil was paid a huge loyalty bonus amounting to £8million at the end of the month of September.
Özil joined the London side from Real Madrid back in 2013, when he signed a long term contract for a £42.5m fee. He signed a new deal in January 2018 until 2021, making him the highest earner on £350,000-per-week.
And it has now emerged the deal included a loyalty bonus in a bid to convince him to stay at thee club for the entirety of the contract.
Despite being left out of the team and snubbed from Arsenal’s Europa League squad last week, Özil has picked up a huge fee for staying.
While the payout to Özil is significant, Arsenal are saving money on appearance bonuses with his recent omission from the team.
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Özil has not been named in the squad since lockdown and attentions are now on whether he will be included in the club’s Premier League squad which must be announced by October 20.
Speaking to The Athletic about his predicament in August, Özil said: “My position is clear. “I’m here through to the last day of our agreement and I’ll give everything I have for this club.
“Situations like these will never break me, they only make me stronger. I showed in the past that I can come back into the team and I will show it again.”
