Ozil against pay cut

Mesut Ozil is among three Arsenal players stalling on a pay-cut. Ozil, the club's top-earner on £350,000-a-week, is thought to want more time to assess the impact of the coronavirus shutdown before committing to a deal.

The remaining 24 members of the first-team squad have agreed to a 12.5 per cent reduction for 12 months , following a fortnight of intensive talks with the club and a personal intervention by manager Mikel Arteta on Wednesday.

The Spaniard and his core coaching staff have also agreed to the terms.

The players are expected to be fully reimbursed if they qualify for the Champions League in the next two campaigns, while the cut will be reduced to 7.5 percent if they reach the Europa League.

Talks with Ozil and the two others will continue, with the trio not thought to have ruled out a future cut.

The PFA has urged players only to accept deferrals and Ozil's agent said earlier this month: "Deferral is an option but not a cut today when the clubs may still make the same profit as last year. What the exact financial impact is on the clubs, we can see three to six months later but we can't see it today."