Arsenal No.10 Mesut Ozil has come to the unlikely aid of Gunnersaurus, offering to pay the wages of the recently-redundant mascot.
Jerry Quy, who has been the man in the dinosaur outfit since 1993, was released by the North London club on deadline day, to the uproar of Gooners around the world. Sevilla confirmed their interest in the green character, while Chessington World Of Adventures posted on social media that they would offer Gunnersaurus a job.
Now, it appears that Arsenal outcast Ozil could fund the salary of Quy out of his own pocket, until the end of his Arsenal contract.
"I was so sad that Jerry Quy, our famous and loyal mascot and integral part of our club was being made redundant after 27 years," Ozil stated on his official Instagram page.
"As such, I’m offering to reimburse Arsenal with the full salary of our big green guy as long as I will be an Arsenal player, so Jerry can continue his job that he loves so much."
NEWS Arsenal fans outraged after club reportedly release beloved mascot Gunnersaurus
Mesut Ozil signed his last Arsenal deal in January 2018 but has featured sporadically since - first for Arsene Wenger, before Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta chose to move on from picking him, too.
Ozil has resisted leaving the Gunners, however, and is thought to earn over £300,000 a week.
Earlier this summer, the German came under fire for apparently not choosing to take a pay cut. When Arsenal made 55 members of staff redundant, though - as a side-effect of the COVID-19 pandemic - Ozil suggested that he refused the original cut because he didn't have assurances that other jobs would be safe.
Gunnersaurus was originally designed as part of a Junior Gunners competition and unlike Ozil of late, has been a mainstay at Arsenal matchdays, before reports announced his extinction this week.
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