'Mesut Ozil has made Arsenal look absolutely stupid'

Paul Merson believes Mesut Ozil has made ‘Arsenal look absolutely stupid’ by coming to the rescue in the Gunnersaurus saga.

Arsenal were in the spotlight for the wrong reasons last week upon releasing mascot Gunnersaurus as part of their cost-cutting measures. They then signed Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid.

The €50m signing will reportedly earn around €165,000-a-week as part of his five-year contract. And while fans are naturally delighted with this capture, there is still a sense of outrage of how their beloved mascot was treated.

But Ozil, who hasn’t played a single minute of football for Arsenal all season, came to the rescue. The club’s highest earner vowed to pay for Gunnersaurus’ salary for as long as he remained at the Emirates.

… so Jerry can continue his job that he loves so much. ❤️🙏🏼#JusticeForGunnersaurus #M1Ö #YaGunnersYa

— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) October 6, 2020

“Mesut Ozil has made Arsenal look absolutely stupid by offering to pay for Gunnersaurus to keep his job,” former Gunners midfielder Merson told the Daily Star.

“But binning their mascot just shows how selfish and out of touch the people who run the club are these days. You cannot believe how angry I am about this. It is unbelievably shocking at the highest level.

“Arsenal used to ooze class. I don’t think the owners even know what that word means any more. Whoever made the decision to get rid of the mascot needs to take a long hard look at themselves.

“The guy in the suit, Jerry Quy. This bloke loves doing that. He was there when I played for Arsenal. He’s an institution. My kids grew up with him. They would be as interested in the dinosaur as they were in the players. Their faces would light up.

“It absolutely does my head in that they’ve got rid of him just to save money. How many other clubs, ones in the lower leagues who are really struggling, have done that? Even if they bring him back when fans are allowed back in the stadium, it’s a disgrace.”

Merson added: “They’ve just signed Thomas Partey for £45m.

“If he’s on £150,000-a-week, are you telling me they couldn’t have offered £149,000 and given the rest to the dinosaur?

“The club are putting money above the fans, above the things that are important. I can’t catch my breath if I’m being honest. I don’t think the people who run the club understand the club really.

“I like where Arsenal are going on the pitch. Mikel Arteta is doing really well. And Partey is an unbelievable signing.

“I don’t know why Manchester United or even Manchester City didn’t go for him. He’s better than what they’ve got.

“But off the pitch, I don’t like what is happening at Arsenal at all sometimes. It’s not the club I remember. It would have been so easy to keep Jerry Quy on.

“But they just went: ‘Let’s save ourselves a tuppence’. Because that’s all it is at the end of the day.”