ANDY DUNN
WHEN it comes to contracts, Arsenal, to put it bluntly, have had some shockers.
They are currently paying Mesut Ozil £350,000 a week and not insisting he actually plays football.
There is every chance Ozil will be in lockdown until his £18million-a-year contract expires next summer.
Still, they have been busy dishing out new packages recently.
David Luiz, who collected a customary yellow card here, got an extra year while Cedric and Pablo Mari signed for four years apiece. Time will tell if those bits of business prove to be wise.
But there can be no doubting the importance of Arsenal’s most recent piece of administration, securing Bukayo Saka’s future with a long-term deal. The 18-yearold’s original agreement had been due to expire in the summer of 2021 and a whole host of big clubs, with Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund in the vanguard, sensed another chance to expose Arsenal’s failings on the contract front. But last week,
Saka signed for longer – apparently until 2024, but that is unconfirmed.
And if anyone needed a reminder of why this news was so vital for Arsenal, Saka provided it with a lovely left-footed, first-half finish.
It broke the monotony of a mediocre match and set the platform for an Arsenal victory that takes them to within three points of their vanquished opponents.
“Is there a position @BukayoSaka87 can’t play,” asked Gary Lineker on Twitter, referencing the fact the teenager has popped up at