Arsene Wenger Warns Arsenal: You Would Have To Spend £100m To Replace Mesut Ozil

Arsene Wenger has his say on the Mesut Ozil debacle…

Arsene Wenger has warned the club that replacing Mesut Ozil would require us to spend £100million as the debacle surrounding our marquee man continues, ESPN reports.

Speaking at the Laureus awards at which he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement award for his contributions to sports, Wenger was asked about his former player.

Unai Emery has repeatedly left Ozil out of the squad despite the German star declaring himself fit on social media, which has led many to believe that the 30-year-old’s days are numbered.

Also, reports have suggested that Ozil’s wage packet of £350k per week is causing the club financial problems and Emery’s tactics are designed to force him out of the door.

However, 12 months handing him that contract, Wenger stated that Ozil may be in a comfort zone and even if a player signs a long-term contract, it doesn’t necessarily mean they play to their highest potential for the duration of their stay.

In addition, the Frenchman forewarned the club that just as he was faced with last winter, letting Ozil go would mean spending around £100m to replace him in the squad.

“I feel that the length of the contract has nothing to do normally with the selection of the team. But sometimes there are special cases,” Wenger was quoted as saying.

“Most of the time now we think when we sign a player for five years we have a good player for five years. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that they practice, they play their best. Because they might be in their comfort zone.

“He has a contract but the problem is that if you want to buy a player like him you have to spend £100m.

“And to maintain the value of the player, beyond the Ozil case, it is more about the way football is structured.

“To buy players of top, top quality you need £100m. So the decision you have to make is whether you re-sign the player, who costs us nothing, or do we have the money to buy a new player?”