Mesut Ozil tops billing on deadline day deals

Arsenal on Monday shattered their transfer record to sign Germany attacking midfielder Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid in a deal reportedly worth £42.4 million ($66 million, 50 million euros).  The deal was completed in the final hours of transfer deadline day, and came a day after Madrid signed Gareth Bale from Arsenal’s arch rivals Tottenham Hotspur for a reported world-record fee in excess of £80 million.

Ozil completed a medical in Munich on Monday afternoon and Arsenal subsequently announced on their website that he had signed a ‘long-term contract’. ‘We are extremely pleased to have signed Mesut Ozil,’ said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.  ‘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 did not have carlo Ancelotti’s trust at Real’

BERLIN: Mesut Ozil quit Real Madrid to join Arsenal because he realised he no longer had the confidence of Real coach Carlo Ancelotti, the Germany playmaker said.  The Premier League club smashed their transfer record to sign Ozil for 42.5 million pounds ($66.15 million) on Monday, days after he said he would stay with the nine-times European champions for a fourth season.

Ozil sulked after Ancelotti substituted him in last month’s La Liga match at Granada and the Italian then left him on the bench for Sunday’s 3-1 victory at home to Athletic Bilbao.  ‘I was certain...that I would stay at Real Madrid,’ Ozil said.  ‘Then I realised that I didn’t have the confidence of the coach and the officials after all,’ added the 24-year-old of Turkish origin.