Report: Ozil among Arsenal players stalling over pay cut

Mesut Ozil has yet to agree to terms over Arsenal's plan to cut salaries during the coronavirus pademic, according to the Evening Standard's Dan Kilpatrick.

Arsenal announced Monday that players and coaches will forgo 12.5% of their salaries for 12 months to ease the financial impact of the COVID-19 lockdown.

But Ozil - who earns a club-high £350,000 per week and is considered one of the team's most charitable members - and two other players have yet to commit after extensive negotiations, Kilpatrick reports. The other two holdouts have not been identified.

It's understood Ozil is willing to waive a portion of his salary but is waiting for assurances about the club's future financial plans before he agrees, Kilpatrick adds.

After reportedly struggling to convince several players to agree to reduced salaries, manager Mikel Arteta intervened last Wednesday in an effort to get his team to accept Arsenal's proposal.

Details of the proposal, according to Kilpatrick, state that players will be reimbursed if Arsenal qualify for the Champions League in the next two seasons. If they fail, qualifying for the Europa League will result in their pay cut being reduced to 7.5%.

Ozil's charitable contributions have been well-documented, with the German midfielder announcing plans last year to fund life-changing surgery for 1,000 children. He also donated his earnings from the 2014 World Cup to pay for over 23 Brazilian children to have surgery.