The Big Wages That Could be Off Arsenal’s Books Next Season

Arsenal have built a reputation for having one of the highest wage bills in the world.

Before we all start to heap a tone of criticism on the Arsenal board for the wage structure they have implemented, we must not forget that due to the amount of money that all Premier League clubs make compared to the rest of Europe. It is easy for agents to demand a larger financial package from clubs as they know the cash reserves are far greater than elsewhere.

Now, out of the Arsenal squad, Mesut Ozil probably tops the list of ‘questionable’ wages that Arsenal have given out. In February 2018, Ozil was earning in the region of £150k-per-week and had six months left on his contract.

The Arsenal board began to panic as they had both their two marquee players (Ozil and Alexis Sanchez) having six months left on their contract, and felt they couldn’t afford to lose both in the same window.

Former Arsenal transfer chief Dick Law stated: “The bottom line was what he was asking for was not just far from what our top salary was, it was significantly further.

“Their strategy was to come in with a number as high as they possibly could and see if we would bite if we were desperate.”

This is a prime example of how Ozil’s agent understood the position that Arsenal were in and took advantage of it to the fullest extent. Ozil is now on £350k-per-week and one of the highest-paid players in the Premier League.

This gives you a more clear understanding of how the Gunners’ wage structure has been so poor over the years, but it could be coming to a finish by the end of the 2020/21 season. Arsenal has four notable players that are making large amounts of money whose contracts expire at the end of this season.

Mesut Ozil (£350k), David Luiz (≈£100k), Sokratis (≈£90k) and Shkodran Mustafi (≈£90k). This totals up to roughly £630k-per-week and an astonishing £32.7m per year. Now out of these four players, I find it very hard to believe any of them will receive new deals and will either look to be sold or allowed to go on a free transfer at the end of the season.

This will essentially allow Arsenal to make more signings and improve the contracts of the current crop with more ease, as they will no longer be paying massive wages to players that are having (little to) no contribution to the team.

Overall, on the financial side – with wages, that is – things are starting to move in the right direction and are closer to a resolution. Arsenal can hopefully look to really push on at the beginning of the 2021/22 season as a lot of the deadwood that are collecting massive wages will be sold and replaced by more sensible signings that actually offer something of value.