Arsenal star Mesut Ozil has offered to reimburse the club to pay the wages of "Gunnersaurus" after the beloved mascot was made redundant earlier this week.
Gunnersaurus, who has been the club's mascot for 27 years – even before Arsene Wenger arrived at the club – had been asked to leave with his role no longer deemed necessary as fans are not able to attend matches.
Ozil, who is the club's highest-paid player on £350,000 ($453,537) a week, posted a message on social media on Tuesday lamenting Arsenal's decision to part ways with Jerry Quy, who has played the dinosaur mascot since 1993, saying he would cover Quy's salary in full for as long as he remained at the club.
"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," said Ozil.
"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..."
A GoFundMe page was set up for Quy, a lifelong Arsenal fan, on Monday and has already reached £10,577.
A statement on the page read: "Gunnersaurus has been the Arsenal club mascot for 27 years. He's a club icon and we cannot let him become extinct.
"Played by lifelong fan Jerry Quy, it would be a terrible shame to lose him. The mascot league is the only one we've consistently been on top off, let's keep our all time top scorer on top."
Ozil's gesture comes against a backdrop of alienation at the club with Arsenal unable to offload him before Monday's transfer window deadline.
Several news outlets in the UK on Tuesday reported that Gunners manager Mikel Arteta was preparing to cut the 2014 World Cup winner from his 25-man Premier League squad.
Although they pulled off the deadline-day signing of Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid, Arsenal were less successful with their outgoings and failed to offload a number of players they hoped to cash in on, with Ozil being top of that list.
It means Arsenal have 19 non-homegrown players in their squad, but are only permitted to submit a maximum of 17 to the Premier League.
The former Real Madrid player is yet to feature under Arteta this season and it now seems inevitable the axe will fall.
Ozil's contract at the Emirates runs until June 2021.
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Arsenal v Sheffield United ratings
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ARSENAL RATINGS: Bernd Leno - 6: After a busy evening between the sticks in Arsenal’s midweek League Cup win over Liverpool, the German enjoyed a lazy afternoon at the Emirates today - until he was picking the ball out of the net with eight minutes to go. Reuters -
Hector Bellerin - 7: Provided perfect cross from the right to set up Saka’s opener. Good performance form the reliable right-back. EPA -
David Luiz - 6: Early scares for Brazilian when he was caught in possession but keeper Leno was on hand to sweep up and lucky to escape punishment for pulling Burke’s shirt when Scot was almost through on goal. Sloppy distribution as well in rocky first half. Hardly put under any pressure after the break until a tense finale. AP -
Gabriel - 7: Brazilian defender signed from Lille appears to have slotted easily into Arteta’s defensive plan, although Sheffield United failed to put them under much pressure until the last 10 minutes. Getty -
Kieran Tierney - 7: Some dangerous crosses from left as Arsenal tried to build-up some pressure during first half. Gave McGoldrick too much space as he allowed the Sheffield United attacker curl home a late goal. Getty -
Dani Ceballos - 7: Tried to drive Arsenal forward from midfield in first half but team as a whole struggled to find any momentum. Excellent first-time pass after break was inches away from finding Aubameyang in front of goal. Getty -
Mohamed Elneny - 7: Important part of the Gunners’ engine room and helped Arsenal dominate midfield. Part of the move that set up the opener for Saka. PA -
Bukayo Saka - 7: Confident header home on the hour mark - with practically his first contribution on the attacking front - after a slick Arsenal move. First England call-up this week and now his first goal at the Emirates. Reuters -
Willian - 5: Winger was non-existent as an attacking force in first half – like most of his teammates to be fair. Not much better after the break. Disappointing afternoon's work from the Brazilian. AP -
Eddie Nketiah - 5: Nearly in on goal in first minute but first touch let him down. Weak header straight at Ramsdale was game’s first effort on target after 28 minutes. Offered little else and was substituted before the hour. EPA -
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 7: Had been very quiet until 36th minute when his curling, dipping shot was tipped over by Ramsdale. Left limping and unhappy with Berge after his first-half challenge. Ambitious acrobatic effort hit tamely at keeper just before break. EPA -
SUBS: Nicolas Pepe - 7 (On for Nketiah 56’): Sheer pace down the right wing followed by a quality finish with his left foot, going in off the post, to score his first of the season and put Arsenal 2-0 up. The £72m man now has to start doing it on a regular basis. Getty -
Granit Xhaka – (On for Ceballos 81’) N/A. AP -
Ainsley Maitland-Niles - (On for Saka 87’) N/A. Almost gifted McGoldrick with an equaliser after making a mess of a cross but recovered to deflect his shot wide. PA -
SHEFFIELD UNITED RATINGS: Aaron Ramsdale - 6: Awful pass out from the back in first half handed possession to Ceballos who found Aubameyang but keeper redeemed himself by tipping striker's shot over. Joined the Blades’ attack in injury-time as they tried to grab a leveller. AFP -
John Egan - 7: Captain led by example as Blades rediscovered their defensive solidity, particularly in first half, after tough start to season. EPA -
Chris Basham - 6: Did nothing wrong at the back and made some important challenges but was sacrificed with 15 minutes to go for an attacking option in Sharp. PA -
Jack Robinson - 7: Another who should be happy with his defensive contribution as Arsenal found chances hard to come by and struggled to make a breakthrough for more than an hour. AP -
George Baldock - 6: Should have been booked after half an hour for poor tackle from behind on Saka. Right wing-back helped keep Aubameyang relatively quiet. EPA -
John Lundstram - 6: Huffed and puffed with any moment of real quality. Blazed one volley miles over the bar in injury-time. Getty -
Sander Berge - 6: Norwegian midfielder was booked for after catching Aubameyang with his follow-through in a first-half tackle. Some incisive passes right at the death as his team chased a point. AFP -
Ben Osborn - 6: Stuck to his task in midfield without any telling contributions as the Blades offered little attacking threat from midfield. AP -
Enda Stevens - 6: Shown a clean pair of heels by Pepe down the Sheffield United left as the Arsenal substitute sprinted through to score the second. Shame, as he had helped completely nullify the threat of Willian. AFP -
David McGoldrick - 7: Barely featured as an attacking option until the 35th minute when he followed up a smart turn by curling a shot high and wide of the target. Fine left-footed finish with eight minutes left hauled the Blades back into the match. Saw injury-time shot deflected wide by Ainsley-Niles. AP -
Oliver Burke - 5: Could feel frustrated that Luiz’s tug of his shirt early on, when the Blades attacker was nearly clean through, wasn’t picked up by officials. Generally just chasing shadows, often left ploughing a lone furrow up front and was clearly furious to be hooked 10 minutes into the second half. AFP -
SUBS: Ollie McBurnie - 6 (On for Burke 56’) 6: Replaced his fellow Scot early in second half and had his team’s first shot on target after 77 minutes – a curling shot straight at Leno. AFP -
John Fleck - (On for Osborn 63’) 5: Made no impact after coming on. Reuters -
Billy Sharp - (On for Basham 76’) N/A. Getty
