Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has offered to pay the employee who wears the club's mascot for his survival, after Arsenal's decision to fire him in order to cut costs.
The club decided to get rid of Jerry Coy - who had a role in communicating with fans outside and inside the Emirates Stadium, when he wore the green dinosaur clothes - recently to reduce expenses due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, Arsenal said the mascot would return once the fans were allowed to return to the stands after the coronavirus-related safety measures were eased, but without specifying when Koei could resume his role.
"The mascot will remain an important part of Arsenal, and we look forward to its return to entertain our fans when they are allowed to return to matches," the club said in an emailed statement, without saying.
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Ozil said on his Twitter account today, "I was very sad because Jerry Coy, also known as the famous and loyal mascot of the club, and an integral part of our club; was dispensed with in order to save expenses after 27 years. Accordingly, I offer to bear Coy's salary in full throughout my stay in Arsenal; so that Jerry can continue his work, which he loves so much. "
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… pic.twitter.com/IfWN38x62z
- Mesut Özil (@ MesutOzil1088) October 6, 2020
The former German international's tweet witnessed great interaction, and after Ozil announced his initiative, he turned from a pariah demanding the masses to dispense with him to a hero everyone praises for his step, and raised his name to the third in the world in terms of interaction on Twitter with tens of thousands of tweets.
Fans have also launched a fundraising campaign to pay Jerry Coy's salary and refuse to be fired.
Ozil, whose contract lasts until 2021, gets around 350,000 pounds (454,300 dollars) a week, but he has not played with the team so far this season, and played 18 major league matches last season.