Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil is adamant he will remain at the club until his contract expires in June of next year, despite a lack of recent game time.
The former World Cup winner with Germany signed a new deal worth £350,000 a week in 2018, a contract which has attracted criticism, especially as he didn't play one minute under new manager Mikel Arteta when football resumed in June.
The 31-year-old missed 10 Premier League games and Arsenal's FA Cup triumph, with Arteta putting 'pure football reasons' as the rationale for his decision.
Speaking exclusively to The Athletic, Ozil says he will stick it out until the bitter end.
“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."
“I fully respect the coach’s decision but I believe these things should mainly be decided on the pitch. After the restart, I wasn’t given a chance to show what I can do. You don’t play 10 games in a row if you’re unfit, not good enough, or don’t behave well. If I played these games badly and was then left out completely for that reason then I might understand, but this was not the case.”
Ozil has also admitted he was not part of the agreement for players to take a 12 and a half percent pay cut.
The cuts were implemented ahead of Arsenal's decision to make 55 members of staff redundant.
It's a personal decision Ozil feels justified in making, although he admits it could have contributed to his lack of minutes in the first team.
“It was far too quick for something so important and there was a lot of pressure. This was not fair, especially for the young guys, and I refused. I had a baby at home and have commitments to my family here, in Turkey and in Germany — to my charities, too, and also a new project we started to support people in London that was from the heart and not for publicity.
“People who know me know exactly how generous I am and, as far as I’m aware, I was not the only player who rejected the cut in the end, but only my name came out. I guess that’s because it is me and people have been trying for two years to destroy me, to make me unhappy, to push an agenda they hope will turn the supporters against me and paint a picture that is not true.
“Possibly the decision affected my chances on the pitch, I don’t know. But I’m not afraid to stand up for what I feel is right — and when you see what has happened now with the jobs, maybe I was.”
