Soccer Star Mesut Ozil Says He Will Pay Salary of Team’s Laid Off Mascot

German soccer star Mesut Ozil is stepping in to help one of his team’s recently laid off staff members due to lost revenue amid the coronavirus pandemic.

British soccer club Arsenal have announced they will be laying off a number of staff members, according to reports, and one of the casualties was the person who plays the team’s mascot, Gunnersaurus.

Jerry Quy, the man inside Gunnersaurus, was let go from the club after 27 years of service due to redundancies placed on the team’s financial books because of revenue not made during the coronavirus pandemic. The news didn’t sit well with one of the team’s star players.

Ozil announced on Twitter Tuesday that he will be paying Quy’s salary with his own money in order to keep the mascot going during the season.

“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,” Ozil tweeted. “so Jerry can continue his job that he loves so much. #JusticeForGunnersaurus #M1Ö #YaGunnersYa.”

Ozil, who earns a reported £350,000, or about $451,000, a week, is the team’s highest paid player.

Reports say that the team will be shedding 55 jobs and is the first major club to announce doing so.

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