Mesut Ozil signs Arsenal contract extension until 2021

The World Cup winner is now the highest paid player in the Premier League

Mesut Ozil has finally agreed to extend his stay at the club (Getty)

Arsenal have announced that Mesut Ozil has signed a new three-and-a-half year contract which makes him the highest paid player in the history of the club.

Ozil, 29, has agreed to remain at the club until 2021 and will earn £350,000 a week before tax, which makes him the best paid player in the Premier League.

It is more than double the £150,000 a week he previously earned, and ends months of speculation that he was planning on leaving the club on a free transfer at the end of the current season.

In a statement posted on his social media channels, Ozil wrote: “I am proud to announce: I signed that thing … three more years with Arsenal!

“It’s been one of the most important decisions of my footballing career and that’s why I had to think hard and talk with everyone who’s important to me… Good things take time.

“In the end I let my heart decide. As I always said, I feel at home here and I’m highly motivated to achieve big things in the next few years. Once a Gunner, always a Gunner!”

The 2006 World Cup winner joined Arsenal from Real Madrid in 2013 and has made a total of 179 appearances for the north London club.

He had been linked with a move to Manchester United but will now remain at The Emirates Stadium until he is 32.