Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has revealed the ridiculous offer he received to move to the Chinese Super League in the summer.
A number of top-tier players have moved to the league for huge fees and hefty wages in recent times, with Carlos Tevez, Axel Witsel, Oscar just a few that spring to mind.
And Ozil, who has put contract negotiations at Arsenal on hold until the end of the season, has come out and said that he too could have been earning mega bucks in the far East had he accepted the offer he received.
Image: PA
The German has a book titled 'Gunning For Greatness: My Life' coming out in the near future and it is being serialised in the Daily Mail, with Ozil talking about Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, the Premier League and a host of other issues.
And he also opened up about a massive offer from China which would have seen him rake in obscene wages.
Image: PA
He writes:
"When I got an offer from China last summer, I didn't need advice because the offer was too absurd. The Chinese were prepared to pay me £100million net over a period of five years. A fairy tale amount of money that went beyond the limits of my imagination."
The club have obviously not been named, but Ozil would have earned around £380,000 a week after tax had he accepted the offer on the table.
Image: PA
He didn't, and the former Real Madrid man says it was an easy and straightforward decision to reject the proposal.
"In spite of this it took me less than three minutes to decline the offer. My agent, Erkut, called me to let me know about the bid. He said: 'I think we're agreed what we're going to do, aren't we? You won't consider it, will you?'
"'I'm nowhere near the end of my career,' I replied. 'I still want to win titles with Arsenal. I don't want to play in China no matter how much they're willing to pay. No way.'"
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Madness. But fair play to Ozil for turning down the offer, unlike many other top players.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Mesut Ozil, Chinese Super League, Arsenal