Wenger joy as Arsenal sign Ozil in £43m deal

The 24-year-old sealed the e50m transfer yesterday afternoon having undergone a medical in Munich, where he is on international duty.

Before Sunday’s 1-0 win over big-spending London rivals Tottenham, Gunners manager Arsene Wenger had seen moves for Gonzalo Higuain, Luis Suarez and Yohan Cabaye all fail to come off, but finally has been able to land a big-name signing following the free transfers of Yaya Sanogo and Mathieu Flamini and a loan move for Palermo goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano.

Wenger was confident the e100m (£85.3m) switch of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid would set in place a “domino” effect, and thus allow the likes of Ozil to come on to the market as the clock ticked down towards the 11pm deadline.

Ozil said he is looking forward to working underneath the Frenchman at the Emirates after becoming the second most expensive player in Barclays Premier League history.

“I am thrilled to be joining a club of the stature of Arsenal and am looking forward to playing in the Premier League,” he said. “It will be great for my own personal development as a player and I am particularly looking forward to working with Arsene Wenger. From our negotiations it is clear the club has huge ambition and I look forward to being part of an exciting future.”

The Arsenal manager was delighted to have landed a player of such a high calibre.

Wenger said: “We are extremely pleased to have signed Mesut Ozil. He is a great player, with proven quality at both club and international level. We have watched and admired him for some time as he has all the attributes I look for in an Arsenal player.

“I have said throughout the summer that we have been working hard to bring in top quality players to this football club. This has involved many, many people across the club and I have always had the full support of the club in making decisions on the football side.

“Mesut is a top quality footballer who will be a fantastic addition to our squad. We are all looking forward to him joining up with us after his international matches with Germany.”

Arsenal, who had been linked with Ozil’s Real Madrid team-mates Karim Benzema and Angel di Maria, are also understood to have made a bid to sign Chelsea forward Demba Ba on loan, although reports suggested the 28-year-old Senegalese will now stay at Stamford Bridge.

Arsenal have responded well since they lost the opening Premier League game at home to Aston Villa, winning at Fulham and also securing a place in the group stages of the Champions League by beating Fenerbahce both at home and away. However, the need for getting in extra bodies was highlighted by the inclusion of youngsters Serge Gnabry and Gedion Zelalem, only 16, on the bench after Arsenal’s first-team squad had been decimated by injuries to key men like Lukas Podolski, Mikel Arteta and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Ozil represents a player of the highest quality, which was Wenger’s pre-requisite for adding to the talent pool.

Third-generation Turkish-German playmaker Ozil joined Real from Werder Bremen in 2010, and has played 155 times for the Spanish giants as well as progressing with the national team, where he is fast closing in on 50 caps en route towards the World Cup.

A season-long loan deal for Italy international Viviano was also confirmed as Wenger got his hands on a keeper he has admired for a while.