Arsène Wenger claims paying Özil £350,000 per week is cheaper than signing a replacement

He has a point.

Arsenal faced a contract crisis this January as Alexis Sánchez and Mesut Özil's ran their contracts down to their final six months. They dealt with the Sánchez as well as they could have; letting him go and getting Mkhitaryan as an immediate replacement as part of the deal. The Özil situation was more complex. There were fewer potential suitors for the German. Manchester United would have been a possibility had they not signed Alexis Sánchez, but losing any of your star players to a rival team is never ideal, let alone your two best. All the elite teams in Europe who could afford Özil's wages have other players in his position; Bayern have James Rodriguez, Real Madrid have Isco, Barcelona have Messi and have just signed Coutinho. Where would he go if he were to leave. This is probably a large part of the reason Özil agreed to stay at Arsenal, as well as the fact they will reportedly be paying him £350,000 a week. On the face of it, that looks like an extortionate price for Arsenal to pay just to keep Özil, but Wenger sees it as the cheapest option in a tough situation. Letting Özil go for free in the summer would mean splashing out on another world class attacker, even if they would not be paid as much as Özil. The pay rise they are giving the playmaker could actually mean money saved in transfer fees.

"When you let a player go you have to buy somebody of the same calibre and if you add the transfer needed and the wages will be similar. On top of that we have to pay a transfer,” said Wenger. "So overall, I think Mesut for us was the cheapest option. On the other side all of our players are well paid. Very well paid. To feel sorry for them - I’m not sure that it’s the most objective assessment! “As long as we are paying what we can afford, it is not a problem. I did try my whole life to pay the players good wages, so I am not against that. I am just against the fact that you live on credit.”

He has a point. Keeping hold of players of Özil's quality is essential if Arsenal want to remain among the top European clubs in terms of stature during times of difficulty. https://twitter.com/MesutOzil1088/status/959456281798041600