With reports suggesting Arsenal pair Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez are demanding wages of £250,000-a-week to keep them at the club beyond their existing deal, former Gunner Perry Groves believes they need to be more ‘realistic’ about what they want.
Sanchez and Ozil will enter the final year of their current deal at the Emirates next summer and it is believed they want around £250,000-a-week to remain at Arsenal, as their contract negotiations drag on.
In September, Arsene Wenger admitted that he would like to tie the attacking pair down to new deals, but there has since been no word of progression on the matter.
Groves has urged the pair to rethink their demands and has warned that Arsenal’s wage structure means they cannot compete or match salaries being offered at other big name clubs around Europe:
‘Have Arsenal got the money to spend? Yes they have. Will they get the £250,000 a week they are looking for? I don’t think they will get that.
‘They will see that Arsenal are progressing at the moment, but where are Sanchez and Ozil going to go? If they leave Arsenal are Manchester City or Barcelona going to buy them? I cannot see that happening. PSG maybe they could get a better financial deal there.’
Arsenal could definitely reward both Ozil and Sanchez with deals in the bracket they are asking for. However, as Groves stated, it is highly unlikely the club will, purely because they have a stable wage structure in place.
The pair still have over 18 months left to run on their contracts. There’s no rush to tie them down to a new deal just yet. However, if reports are to be believed about their demands, then Wenger will have a tough situation on his hands.
