Arsenal made the tough decision to make their loyal mascot, Gunnersaurus, redundant earlier this week.Jerry Quy had played the much-loved dinosaur for 27 years, having taken to the role in 1993.The news led to widespread criticism from football fans around the world.Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson expressed his disappointment live on Sky Sports, saying: "Unbelievable. All them kids, the Junior Gunners, there will be 30 and 40-year-old fans who have grown up with that dinosaur."Its disappointing, I think it's poor by Arsenal, I really do."
Fans of the north London club also rallied in support of Gunnersaurus. A GoFundMe page has been set up in the aftermath of the news, which at the time of writing has raised £10,517.But it appears that Quy will continue to do the job he loves.That's because Mesut Ozil has incredibly offered to pay Quy's salary himself for as long as he's an Arsenal player. Taking to social media, the German wrote: "I was so sad that Jerry Quy aka our famous & loyal mascot Gunnersaurus and integral part of our club was being made redundant after 27 years."As such, I’m offering to reimburse Arsenal with the full salary of our big green guy as long as I will be an Arsenal player so Jerry can continue his job that he loves so much."
What a classy, classy man. You just cannot hate Mesut Ozil.
Ozil is one of the most charitable men in football so the news doesn't come as a massive surprise.
But it does just reinforce what a great human being he is.