Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has stepped in to cover the wages for Jerry Quy, the person who has donned the iconic Arsenal mascot Gunnersaurus’ outfit for 27 years. The Gunners opted to lay off Jerry after disclosing it to him that his job does not exist due to the absence of fans following the pandemic.
The decision to relieve Jerry off his duties enraged the fans and ex-players with the action taken on the same day when the club were able to secure the signing of Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid. The club triggered the 45 million pound release clause to bring the midfielder to London.
Arsenal announced back in August that they have decided to render 55 non-playing staff redundant. Moreover, the players were asked to take a 12.5% wage cut due to the financial losses brought upon by the pandemic. The cut was, however, reduced to 8.5% once the club managed to seal their qualification for the Europa League.
Mesut Ozil, the club’s highest-paid player, refused to take a cut from his 350,000-pound wage cap, unlike his teammates. The midfielder, upon hearing the news of Gunnersaurus being redundant, expressed his disappointment and stepped in to cover the salary for Jerry Quy until his contract runs out next year. He announced his decision through a tweet, where he said:
I was so sad that Jerry Quy aka our famous & loyal mascot @Gunnersaurus and integral part of our club was being made redundant after 27 years. As such, I’m offering to reimburse @Arsenal with the full salary of our big green guy as long as I will be an Arsenal player… pic.twitter.com/IfWN38x62z
— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) October 6, 2020
“I was so sad that Jerry Quy aka our famous & loyal mascot @Gunnersaurus and integral part of our club was being made redundant after 27 years,” Ozil posted on Twitter. “As such, I’m offering to reimburse @Arsenal with the full salary of our big green guy as long as I will be an Arsenal player…”
An Arsenal spokesman commented on the situation by stating, “Gunnersaurus is not extinct and will return to action when fans are allowed back at matches.”
Ozil’s delicate situation with Arsenal
The creative midfielder has grown out of favour over the last two years. After being frozen out of the squad by Unai Emery, the trend progressed with the arrival of new manager Mikel Arteta as well.
Despite being made available for transfer during the recent window, Ozil did not attract any club and will most likely remain with the club and run his contract down.
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