Arsenal have completed the signing of German playmaker Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid
Arsenal have completed the £42.4m signing of Real Madrid and Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil to break their club record by £27.4m.
The 24-year-old has signed a five-year deal after agreeing personal terms on Monday morning.
Ozil is on international duty and had his medical in Germany.
The Gunners have also signed Palermo goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano, 27, but talks have broken down with Chelsea to sign striker Demba Ba, 28, on loan.
Mesut Ozil factfile
Age: 24
Club: Real Madrid
Previous clubs: Schalke, Werder Bremen
International: 47 caps for Germany, 14 goals
Honours: Spanish Super Cup (2012), La Liga (2011-12), Copa del Rey (2011), DFB Cup (2009), DFL Supercup (2009)
Ozil, who has Turkish parents, on his footballing ability: “My technique and feeling for the ball is the Turkish side to my game. The discipline, attitude and always-give-your-all is the German part.”
Arsenal have failed in high-profile attempts to sign Liverpool striker Luis Suarez and Gonzalo Higuain, a former team-mate of Ozil at Real Madrid, this summer.
But they have now captured Ozil after Gareth Bale’s world-record £85.3m switch from Tottenham to Real triggered further deals on the final day of the transfer window.
The move easily surpasses their club-record signing, the £15m they paid Zenit St Petersburg for Andrey Arshavin in 2009.
Germany international Ozil joined Real from Werder Bremen three years ago for a fee believed to be about £12.4m and has played 155 times for the club.
Going into transfer deadline day, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had previously made only two signings – striker Yaya Sanogo, 20, and midfielder Mathieu Flamini, 29, arriving on free transfers.
But the signing of Ozil, who helped Real win La Liga in 2011-12 and was named in Uefa’s team of the tournament at Euro 2012, delivers a signal of intent to the Gunners’ Premier League rivals.
Ba, meanwhile, has played just 15 times for Chelsea in the Premier League since joining from Newcastle for £7m in January.
His only appearance under Jose Mourinho this season was in the 2-1 home victory over Aston Villa on 21 August, when the Senegal international was substituted, but the Blues have informed Arsenal they will not loan him to a rival.
Viviano has been brought in as a back-up option to first-choice goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
An Italy international, he stood in for the injured Gianluigi Buffon during the Azzurri’s initial qualifiers for Euro 2012.
After impressing at Brescia and then Bologna, he joined Inter Milan but has struggled to recover his best form since sustaining a knee injury and spent last season on loan at hometown club Fiorentina.
BBC