If Mikel Arteta wishes to hold onto Aubameyang then he needs to make a key decision regarding Mesut Ozil, that’s according to Charlie Nicholas.
Mesut Ozil is currently the highest earner in the Arsenal squad and truth be told, the Gunners are reluctant to offer Aubameyang a pay-rise since the German is eating up a lot of their budget.
So according to Nicholas, if the Arsenal manager can offload a handful of players like Mesut Ozil then there’s every chance that the club will be in a position to offer the Gabon international a new deal.
He wrote in his column at Sporting Life: “My preference would be to offer Aubameyang what he wants.
“Everyone will flag up his wages. I have been told differing scenarios, especially with Mesut Ozil. Is it possible Ozil could move on? Could this then help fund wages for Aubameyang and others? If they get him off the wage bill without getting anything for him, it will not be too bad.
“There are different ways of doing this, but more than anything, I would want Arsenal to renew Aubameyang’s contract for three or four years.
“Even if Arsenal are average as of next year, they cannot decline much more, it has reached its bottom.
“Arteta wants five or six out and he wants that money to rebuild. If nothing more is in the pot, sell to rebuild. If you are doing that as a financial package, you are not buying to replace Aubameyang.
“You can get rid of Shkodran Mustafi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has been out on loan. This will all help to filter through, so there are easy things to do. Give him what he wants, get rid of the deadwood, you have the kids, and it would not cost £200m to challenge for the top four once more.”
Can Mesut Ozil be sold off in the summer?
Mesut Ozil had fallen down the pecking order under Unai Emery at the start of the season but since Mikel Arteta has taken over, the German has seen quite a lot of game time at the club.
Ozil has played more frequently under the new boss and we think Arteta has already made plans to use him for the upcoming season which means he is not likely to be sold in the summer.
Another big reason why Mesut Ozil should remain at Arsenal is that whichever club wants to sign him will have to pay him the exact same wages which he is earning currently – £350,000 per week.
And right now there are very few clubs in European football who would be willing to pay such a huge salary to the 31-year-old.
