Gunnersaurus could be saved from redundancy after Mesut Ozil offers to pay mascot’s wages
Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has offered to “reimburse the full salary” of the club’s mascot Gunnersaurus just 24 hours after the footballing dinosaur was revealed to be at risk of redundancy.
Tweeting on Tuesday, the German international said: “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.”
Jerry Quy has been an Arsenal fixture since the club instituted the mascot in 1993.
Read more: Gunnersaurus at risk of redundancy
His part-time role was revealed to be at risk of redundancy earlier this week, as first reported by The Athletic.
The redundancy was separate to 55 planned job losses at the club, a move announced over the summer.
That job losses programme came under significant criticism as it came at the same time as the club were reported to be offering a contract worth more than £200,000 per week to Brazilian playmaker Willian.
Arsenal are yet to publicly confirm whether or not they will accept the offer from Ozil, who earns a reported £350,000 a week.