WHAT IS THE TRUTH BEHIND ADIDAS AND MESUT OZIL REGARDING THE END OF THEIR LONG TERM £22 MILLION CONTRACT? by Ken1945 (via Right To Reply)
We were recently told via an article on “Justarsenal”, that the German newspaper “Bild” and cited by the “Sun” that Adidas had dumped Ozil and we were given various reasons for this decision within the article itself.
The article noted Ozil’s resignation from the German national team over racism – then the photograph posted of him with the Turkish president that, supposedly, caused a stir around the world – followed by his criticism of the Chinese treatment of a Muslim minority group – then it was deemed necessary to remind everyone that Ozil was one of three Arsenal players who refused to take a pay cut – before the article noted that the reason could be that he wasn’t offered a new contract, following the coronavirus pandemic and that Adidas may just have been reviewing their finances anyway!!
It was finally observed that Ozil “is clearly a toxic figure” and the final observation went as “It will not be too long now when Arsenal will finally be able to rid themselves of this man once and for all.”
Now this article had many responses, both in agreement and also against the reasons given for the Adidas decision. There were many replies deleted that were critical of the article’s views and it is very frustrating when it always seems that those who agree with an article stay up without any problem at all.
HOWEVER:
Just a couple of hours later, it emerged that there was a completely different way of looking at the reason why the partnership had ended and I posted “Justarsenal” to say I hoped there would be coverage of this other side of the debate – as this hasn’t happened I decided to do it myself.
The counter argument came from Ozil’s agent, who was keen to point out that there seems to be a crusade against Mesut in certain quarters.
I will now quote from The Athletic as told by his agent Erkut Sogut – in the same way that Bild and the Sun was used in the original article – to ensure the same rules apply:
“There is no termination. The contract is running out. It’s like any other contract agreement or contract you have with a club – like if Mesut’s contract runs out with Arsenal next year, Arsenal wouldn’t say one month before they were dumping him.”
Sogut then goes on to say that Ozil has been planning to promote and develop his own brand “M10”, so it seems that Ozil himself was quite happy and relaxed about the whole situation.
Yet again, the media etc were ready, willing and able to bash Mesut Ozil, with no proof whatsoever and citing incidents that they knew would entice further negative reactions to the player.
I would also add that there are many others who feels racism still exists in Germany, that one’s personal political views are up to him/her, that the way China treats its people is very questionable, and wanting to know when taking a pay cut where the money is going all seem reasonable point of view – why these views should be included when branding someone as “toxic” is hard to justify in my opinion.
Now, whatever personal views one has regarding the player, I feel that there should always be a level playing field for anyone playing at our club and “JustArsenal” should also have this view in my opinion.
We all know that his salary/contract is one of the most absurd pieces of business done by our club – but what seems to be forgotten is that he was offered that salary by the club’s owner and he obviously felt it represented excellent value to him as sole owner and, likewise, Adidas also felt that the name “Ozil” represented enough power in the footballing world to warrant a staggering £22,000,000 deal over seven years.
At this moment in time, Mikel Arteta has seen enough in the player to select him for every premier league game since he took over and, surely as Arsenal supporters, we should be getting behind MA’s selections?
Hasn’t it seen us turn, from a relegation threatened club under UE, into a team that still has the opportunity to finish in a European place and, possibly, another cup final appearance?
So let’s give this continued knocking of one of our own players a rest and concentrate on what all real Gooners should be doing – supporting our club and it’s players….and wait for the full story from both sides, before jumping on the bandwagon of abuse yet again.
ken1945