The agent of Mesut Ozil, Erkut Sogut, has revealed the reason why the German refused to take a pay cut at Arsenal.

The playmaker did not follow his Arsenal teammates in taking a 15 per cent pay-cut during the pandemic.

Ozil eventually left Arsenal for Fenerbahce in January 2021.

"With the salary cut, he asked me 'Where is the money going?'," Sogut explained in an interview with Arsenal Fan TV.

"Mesut wanted assurances from the club that they wouldn't fire anyone. That management would have a salary cut too.

"If that assurance was given and signed, he would have taken more of a cut. Thirty per cent. He wanted to know where the money was going.

"If it was to buy another player, he didn't want to do it. If it was to secure the workplace, he wanted to do it."