Mesut Ozil Offers to Cover Salary of Extinct Arsenal Mascot Gunnersaurus

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has offered to cover the full salary of Jerry Quy, who played the role of Gunners mascot Gunnersaurus.

Quy - who had played the role of Gunnersaurus since seemingly the dawn of time (well, 27 years to be precise) - was recently let go as the north London club continued to make cuts due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The news came out just hours before the club secured the signature of former Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey for €50m.

It has been suggested that Gunnersaurus could be brought back once fans are able to return to the Emirates, but Ozil has decided he doesn't want to wait an age to act and has instead taken matters into his own hands. Taking to his Twitter, the midfielder stated that he is willing to reimburse Arsenal with Quy's full salary if he returns to his role as Arsenal mascot.

He wrote: "I was so sad that Jerry Quy aka our famous & loyal mascot Gunnersaurus and integral part of our club was being made redundant after 27 years. 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."

The Gunners have since issued a response, a spokesperson saying, as quoted by James Olley: “Gunnersaurus is not extinct and will return to action when fans are allowed back at matches.”

Indeed, there were expected to be some departures from the Emirates on Deadline Day, such as Sead Kolašinac and Mattéo Guendouzi, but Gunnersaurus' exit left fans with a bone to pick with the board. Indeed, the club faced a mammoth task of trying to appease the fans after allowing him to leave, but managed to do so as they announced the signing of Partey just after the transfer window had officially slammed shut.

Ozil, of course, hasn't featured for Arsenal at all so far this season after being frozen out by head coach Mikel Arteta. But he has confirmed that he is more than happy to cover Quy's wages in full for the duration of his time at the club.