OZIL: I TURNED DOWN 'FAIRY TALE' £100M CHINA MOVE

The Germany ace could be earning big bucks in the Far
East now but says that he took just three minutes to
snub a mega-money switch

Arsenal ace Mesut Ozil has revealed that he had the
chance to move to the Chinese Super League and earn
£100 million over the course of his contract – but he
turned the move down.
The Germany star did admit he had doubts over his
performances when they were criticised, but these
were quelled by France veteran Robert Pires, who
offered advice to the playmaker on the frequent
occasions he would visit the club.
For example, the Gunners legend explained to Ozil that
there was no need for him to add muscle mass to
succeed in the Premier League, and the former Real
Madrid man was able to promptly make up his mind
about a transfer away from Emirates Stadium.
"When I got an offer from China last summer,
however, I didn’t need his [Pires's] advice because the
offer was too absurd," Ozil explains in his
forthcoming autobiography 'Gunning for Greatness'.
"The Chinese were prepared to pay me £100 million
net over a period of five years. A fairy tale amount
of money that went beyond the limits of my
imagination.
"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'.