Arsenal star Mesut Ozil offers to pay for team mascot's salary amid COVID-19 pandemic

Just like many industries around the world, football clubs are suffering massive financial blows due to the raging COVID-19 pandemic. Players, club management officials and stadium employees have been taking pay cuts while numerous other staff members have lost their jobs over the past several months.

Even top flight clubs such as Premier League side Arsenal FC have been affected and are dealing with the financial strain. As such, it was recently revealed that the Gunners have given the axe to Jerry Quy, who had held the job as the man behind the team's mascot called "Gunnersaurus" for nearly three decades.

Upon hearing the sad news, Turkish midfielder Mesut Ozil took it upon himself to remedy the situation. In a tweet, he volunteered to pay for Quy's salary so that he can continue serving the team as the well-loved mascot.

"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," said Ozil.

It may be remembered that earlier this year, Ozil had refused to accept a pay cut unless the club gives him a concrete plan on how the money will be used. He had wanted to make sure that sacrificing his salary would benefit those who are most in need.

However, despite most of the squad and management team taking pay cuts of around 12.5%, Arsenal announced the retrenchment of 55 staff members back in August. In a statement, the club said, "Our main sources of income have all reduced significantly. Revenue from broadcasters, matchday and commercial activities have all been hit severely and these impacts will continue into at least the forthcoming 2020/21 season."

It is unclear if "Gunnersaurus" is part of the same group of 55 redundancies or if the club has cut back even further on the number of employees.