Mesut Ozil is once again at the centre of transfer speculation.
The Arsenal midfielder's agent, Erkut Sogut, has said that 31-year-old will make a decision on his future in 2021, but insists he won't be leaving the club this summer.
Yet Turkish website Fotosport claim the club's board are plotting a way to crowdfund a potential move for Ozil.
Selling Ozil is easier said than done, mainly because of his £350,000-a-week contract which he signed during Arsene Wenger's final season as manager.
And the former Gunners boss explained why the former Germany international was given such a lucrative contract.
"I feel that the length of the contract has nothing to do normally with the selection of the team," he said after being honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Laureus World Sports Awards last year. "But sometimes there are special cases.
"Most of the time now we think when we sign a player for five years we have a good player for five years. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that they practice, they play their best.
"Because they might be in their comfort zone. He has a contract but the problem is that if you want to buy a player like him you have to spend £100m.
"And to maintain the value of the player, beyond the Ozil case, it is more about the way football is structured.
"To buy players of top, top quality you need £100m.
"So the decision you have to make is whether you re-sign the player, who costs us nothing, or do we have the money to buy a new player?"
Wenger's belief that it would cost £100m to replace Ozil with similar quality hands current Gunners head coach Mikel Arteta a big problem ahead of the summer transfer window.
Not only do the Gunners not have the financial power to compete with the likes of both Manchester clubs ad Chelsea, spending £100m this summer is highly unlikely.
Furthermore, Alan Shearer has predicted that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang won't sign a new deal because of Ozil's wages which could be another issue for Arteta at the end of the season.
