How is that a different option?
Doing a Gomis means being picked and scoring goals before getting his move. Otherwise he's sitting on his arse for a year when he should be at his height. Christ, even a move to Qatar would be better than that.
Think of it like this, if say a club in Qatar is willing to pay us 3 million for him this year they could sign him next year and give hatem say 1.5million on top of his existing signing on fee
I get the economic reasons, but I'm surprised that you're trying to suggest that HBA would think it's worth sitting in the stands for a year to pick up an extra £1.5m and yet it's somehow different from throwing his career down the pan. If you think he's that greedy then fair enough, but I hope you're wrong obviously.
I don't really view it as greed personally but for him it's certainly a win win imo.
He can then say he stayed to fight for his place and didn't get offered an extension from ourselves.
A lot can change in a year and being a free agent will present him with a lot of opportunities