Mesut Ozil (who famously offered to pay the salary of Gunnersaurus) has reacted after the mascot made a return to the Emirates. As of Tuesday, Jerry Que who plays the role of the mascot for over 27 years now, tweeted from the sidelines of the home stadium with the caption: “Back at Emirates Stadium today”
The 2014 World Cup winner Mesut Ozil took his time to express his happiness after the news of the reinstatement of the mascot at the Emirates Stadium. Gunnersaurus as of last month was sacked by the club as part of its job-cutting scheme to help with the financial deficiency caused by Covid-19. The decision wasn’t positively received as it prompted a negative clamor from sections of Arsenal’s fanbase and global support with the hashtag #JusticeForGunnersaurus.
The former Germany international, who remains frozen from the Gunners’ team was not pleased with the reported dismissal of the mascot, offering to pay his salary for as long as he remains an Arsenal player – which is a year. It is still not known who is paying the mascot but Ozil expressed his happiness with the mascot’s return on Twitter: “Happy to see you back where you belong #YaGunnersYa.”
Ozil joined Arsenal from Real Madrid in 2013 and has since made 254 appearances for the club, scoring 44 goals and creating 77 assists, and subsequently helped the team win three FA Cups. He was cut by the former Arsenal boss Unai Emery and by the current boss Mikel Arteta. Ozil has been frozen from their Premier League and Europa League squads with Arteta insisting he ‘tried his best’ to include the German international into the lists. He is expected to end up back in Germany when his (expensive) contract expires, with mybettingsite.uk suggesting that he could be taken to Borussia Dortmund to help guide their fledgling attackers.
“What I can tell you that I tried my best, I tried to give him as many opportunities as I could. And that from my own side, I’ve been patient, given his opportunities and been fair,” Arteta told Sky Sports.
The Gaffer added that Ozil remains a staff of the north London side, and he remains one of the important players for the club in the past few years. He says he respects that but make the best decisions for the team and the club overall. He believes the moves he made regarding the Ozil situation are right as they are a reflection of the best interests.
Ozil’s contract will expire at the end of the season, with the World Cup winner believed to want to leave the club and continue his career at another club.