Report Claims Arsenal Dressing Room Split Over Wage Disparity As Troubles Mount in North London

Arsenal's dressing room morale has reportedly taken a nosedive as resentment over a disparity in wages bubbles to the surface. The Times has alleged that

Arsenal's dressing room morale has reportedly taken a nosedive as resentment over a disparity in wages bubbles to the surface.

The Times has alleged that Gunners trio Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have all become targets of their teammates over the huge salaries they have commanded at the Emirates.

The ex-Borussia Dortmund pair are believed to be earning £200,000-a-week and £180,000-a-week respectively - some way off Ozil's reported £300,000-a-week salary but still plenty of cash more than their peers in north London.

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That has seemingly led to an unspoken anger among the rest of Arsene Wenger's squad and, coupled with the club's terrible form of late, could lead to some form of dressing room mutiny if the Frenchman is not careful.

Arsenal have won only two of their last eight matches and suffered their fourth defeat in a row when they fell to a shock 2-1 loss to Brighton at the Amex stadium at the weekend.

The wages that Arsenal's three key players are earning doesn't exactly relate to the performances that they have been putting in on the pitch and seems to be the main reason behind the growing discontent within the senior squad.

Wider issue here is Arsenal wage bill has reached £235m a year. Club can’t afford to pay others much more. Going to create major issues with renewals and quality of new signings needed https://t.co/OWcRuSJc4T

— tim payton (@timpayton) March 7, 2018

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Those results have led to renewed calls from the club's fanbase to sack Wenger, but the veteran manager is remaining defiant in the face of that criticism and insists he has no desire to leave his post.

Arsenal lie 13 points off fourth-placed Tottenham in the hunt for the final Champions League qualification spot and Wenger did admit at the weekend that his side's chances of qualifying for UEFA's flagship continental club tournament were 'almost impossible'.

With the likes of Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck all needing new deals at varying points in the next 12 months, and Arsenal's rumoured refusal to hand them wage increases, the gulf in the dressing room may only increase from here on out.