Arsenal buys Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid for £42 million

Mesut Özil joins Arsenal from Real Madrid in club-record £42 million deal

Arsene Wenger finally joined the big league of European spending when he obliterated Arsenal’s transfer record with the £42 million signing of Mesut Özil.

Record signing: Mesut Ozil has become the most expensive player in Arsenal's history Photo: PA

Having been criticised for years over Arsenal’s frugality in the transfer market, Wenger ended a frustrating summer in the transfer window on a high by persuading one of the major stars of world football to leave Real Madrid.

Özil had been offered superior personal terms by Paris St Germain than the £140,000-a-week five-year deal he agreed at Arsenal but was persuaded to

move to the Premier League after speaking personally with Wenger. Per Mertesacker, Özil’s Germany team-mate, also played an important apart in convincing Özil to join him at Arsenal.

After Chelsea’s £50 million signing of Fernando Torres, it is the second biggest incoming transfer in British football history and almost trebles Arsenal’s previous club record fee of £15 million fee for Andrei Arshavin.

Arsenal’s capture of Özil also capped a record-breaking window for English football, with the total spending of Premier League clubs reaching almost £600 million.

Source-The Telegraph