Arsenal’s decision to fire Jerry Quy, the man wearing the Gunnersaurus costume as their mascot, has been criticized by various parties. Moreover, the reason the Arsenal Board of Directors made the dismissal was to save expenses, which was considered ridiculous.
Because of this, Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil also offered to help pay the salary of Gunnersaurus. However, Ozil has one condition. He will only do so if he is still part of the Arsenal squad.
According to Arsenal legend, Paul Merson, Ozil has managed to make the Gunners look stupid. Regardless of what Ozil’s real intentions were, the German midfielder used the Gunnersaurus as a shield so that he would not be kicked out of the squad.
As is known, recently rumors of Ozil being released by Arsenal are getting faster and faster. Moreover, the former Real Madrid midfielder was not registered by Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta in the Gunners squad for the 2020-2021 Europa League.
“Mesut Ozil has made Arsenal look very stupid by offering to pay Gunnersaurus to keep his job. But throwing away their mascots only shows how selfish and untouchable the people who run the club today are, “Merson told the Daily Star, Sunday (11/10/2020).
“You can’t believe how angry I am about this. This is very surprising at the highest level. Arsenal used to be classy. I guess the owner doesn’t even know the meaning of that word anymore. “Whoever makes the decision to get rid of the mascots has to take care of themselves,” he continued.
Actually it is quite understandable if every club wants to save on expenses. This is because the CoronaVirus (Covid-19) pandemic has made the club experience a decrease in income. However, to save expenses by firing the club mascot, Merson thinks it is beyond reason.
The expenditure to pay the club mascot salary is not large. The funny thing is, Arsenal recently managed to hook Thomas Partey for a price of 45 million pounds and was given a salary of 150 thousand pounds per week.
Seeing this fact, Merson considered that Arsenal could have offered Partey a contract with a salary of 149 thousand pounds per week. So, another 1000 pounds can still be paid to hire Jerry Quy as Arsenal mascot.
“I really thought they were getting rid of the mascots just to save money. How many other clubs, in really struggling lower leagues, have done it? Even if they (Arsenal) rehired him when fans were allowed to return to the stadium, it would still be a shame, “explained Merson.
“They just signed Thomas Partey for 45 million pounds. If he earns £ 150,000 a week, are you telling me they can’t offer Partey just £ 149,000 and give the rest to the dinosaurs? ” he said.
