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Mesut Ozil showing his football skills to Dubai school-children on Mondy Image Credit: A.K. Kallouche/Gulf News

Dubai: Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil will save contract negotiations with his club until after next month’s European Championships.

The 27-year-old German has reportedly been offered a new £200,000 (Dh1m) a week contract by the Gunners, up £60,000 a week from his existing contract, which expires in 2018, making him the North London club’s highest earner.

“I still have two years left on my contract with Arsenal,” Ozil, who joined for a club record £42m fee from Real Madrid in 2013, said on the side-lines of an appearance at Arsenal Soccer Schools at the Sevens Stadium in Dubai on Monday.

“We will be in talks with the club and see what happens in the future but now I want to concentrate on the Euros, which is very important for me and my team, after the World Cup,” he added in reference to Germany’s 2014 triumph in Brazil. “Later on we will see what I will do with Arsenal.”

The Gunners beat relegated Aston Villa 4-0 at home in Sunday’s last game of the season to leapfrog local rivals Tottenham Hotspur – who lost 5-1 away to relegated Newcastle United – for second, ten points behind champions Leicester.

It ended an indifferent season for the club, whose wait for the Premier League title now ticks into 13-years, dumping more pressure upon long-serving coach Arsene Wenger.

Asked if finishing above Spurs would buy the under-fire manager more time, Ozil replied: “For me as a player I just concentrate on football and do what’s best for the team and myself. I’m not speaking about the future of a manager, that’s for the club to decide not me.   

“I think for us it was important to qualify directly to the Champions League, and to reach second in the last game to finish above Tottenham, it was good for us and our fans and it was a good end to the season.”

On where Arsenal’s season went wrong, he added: “I think we dropped a lot of points we shouldn’t have against smaller teams. That was a point in the season where we weren’t strong enough as a team to take a point and continue, especially after the Barcelona game.

“It’s a long season and a lot of things must go right, one factor is injuries and on the other hand we have to focus more, and focus on getting stronger players, to be competitive for next season.”

Ozil stressed there was hope for next season, however.

“I think we have a good strong team with players who have good character,” he said. “Other teams will prepare for the new season with new transfers and be stronger than last season. We will also be stronger than last season. New players will come in to make the side stronger than this season. But this is a decision the people who are responsible for the club must make, not by me, so we will see what happens.”

Of his own form – Ozil finished top of the Premier League’s most assists tally with 19, missing out on fellow Arsenal legend Thierry Henry’s 2002/03 record of 20 – the playmaker said it had been his finest year at the club.

“I think you can say this season has been my best with Arsenal. One factor for that is I started from pre-season. In the last two season’s I didn’t have a pre-season at the club and suffered injuries that took a long time to recover from. But this has been my best with the team.”