Arsenal mascot Gunnersaurus returned to the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.
Long-term Arsenal fan Jerry Quy had been the Gunners’ beloved mascot for 27 years, but was one of 55 staff to have been made redundant in October as the club sought to cut costs.
The club’s decision to let Quy go drew criticism from Arsenal fans and across the world of football, while Mesut Ozil - who hasn’t played since March and is on a £350,000-a-week salary - to offer to pay Quy's wages to bring him back on board.
But Gunnersaurus was back at Arsenal’s Emirates home in north London on Tuesday afternoon, with a tweet from the mascot’s official account reading: “Back at the Emirates Stadium today!”
Back at Emirates Stadium today 👍 pic.twitter.com/NF7FcNWYhI
— Gunnersaurus (@Gunnersaurus) November 10, 2020
That was followed up with a tweet praising the club’s Junior Gunners membership scheme for young fans, suggesting he will be involved in club activities in some capacity going forward.
Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger had recently branded Arsenal’s decision to relieve their mascot of his duties as "unjustifiable" and "incomprehensible".
He said: "The decision was financially unjustifiable. I don’t know what got into them.
"No one can understand it. Everyone who loves Arsenal didn’t take the decision well. I’m part of them.
“They laid off 55 people, which could possibly be explained by a certain reorganisation, a desire for efficiency.
"The mascot cannot be justified by a desire to rebalance finances. It’s incomprehensible."
