Ian Wright has said that he’s ‘really upset’ with the constant dialogue around Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil’s wages, as per his comments on the Wrighty’s House podcast.
Ozil was handed a bumper contract at Arsenal when he signed and, as a result, the club have found it difficult to find a buyer.
Very few clubs in world football can afford to take on Ozil’s wages, which has made offloading him very tricky.
But Wright doesn’t think that Ozil should be criticised by Arsenal supporters for not taking a pay cut to leave, and he claims he’s saddened by the situation now.
“With Mesut, you see him sending the messages. It’s so sad. Mesut needs to be playing,” Wright said.
“Whatever people say about how he plays, I’m really upset with the people who are continually talking about his money. Money that we paid him, money that nobody in his right mind is going to turn down, money that for him and his ability at the time, he was worth that.
“Okay, it’s not worked out how it should have. But Mesut is within his rights to do what he’s doing and it still pains me to know we’ve had a player of that calibre and ability and we’ve not been able to get what we need to get out of him. We’ve not been able to do it.”
Ozil now appears to be closer than ever before to leaving Arsenal, although his exit still isn’t a certainty.
Even if he does stick around Ozil looks likely to have played his last game for the North London club.
Mikel Arteta has completely overlooked the creator this season, with Ozil not playing a game in any competition.
If Ozil does leave Arsenal this month he will do so having made 254 appearances, scoring 44 goals.
Wrighty’s House is the latest podcast from The Ringer with host Ian Wright with new episodes every Wednesday. The podcast will be available exclusively on Spotify. You can listen here.
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