Wenger turns big spender on deadline day
The 26-year-old 6ft 6in defender was allowed to leave the international training camp to complete his deadline day transfer from Werder Bremen, in what is understood to be an £8 million deal.
Mertesacker and Brazil full-back Andre Santos, who arrived from Fenerbahce, will add some much-needed experience to an Arsenal backline which was brutally exposed at Old Trafford last Sunday.
The German has followed the Gunners since he was a teenager, and revealed the debacle against United did not make easy viewing.
“I watched that game and I wasn’t too delighted,” Mertesacker said.
“When I was young and visited England with my auntie, as somebody who was football crazy, I simply had to come back with a shirt.
“I can’t remember why, but I came back with an Arsenal shirt and my brother had a Manchester United one.
“This affinity has grown over more than 10 years and now the loop closes because I am delighted to finally get to play at a team I always supported and where I always wanted to appear eventually.”
Mertesacker continued: “I think Arsenal had been watching me for a while and had intended to sign me for a while. It was a strange situation for me because it was not clear for a long time what would happen and it dragged out to the very end.
“After the medical in London [on Tuesday], it took until late [Wednesday] and I was unsure it would work out, but then I was delighted in the end. It is a dream come true and it is a very attractive challenge.”
Wenger was busy in the final days of the transfer window, having brought in South Korea captain Park Chu-young from Monaco earlier in the week.
The £10m signing of Mikel Arteta from Everton was completed just ahead of the deadline, along with a season-long loan move for Israel captain Yossi Benayoun from Chelsea.
The 29-year-old Spaniard is reported to have taken a pay cut in order to seal a four-year deal with Wenger’s side.
Arteta will strengthen a midfield ripped apart by the departures of skipper Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.
The transfer offers Arteta the chance to test himself at another level.
“It is a big challenge, a different challenge, fresh for me and I want to see myself on the biggest stage, the Champions League,” he said.
“I am 29 years old, so I haven’t got much time left to take a chance like this one.”
Sunderland, meanwhile, could consider making a permanent move for Nicklas Bendtner next summer, should the Denmark forward impress during his season loan at the Stadium of Light, in another move which was pushed through just ahead of the transfer deadline.
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s ‘Jamie Carragher believes Craig Bellamy’s second spell with the Reds can be better than his first as he has unfinished business at the club.
The 32-year-old signed a two-year deal yesterday having come to an agreement over the final 12 months of his contract with Manchester City, where he had become an outcast under Roberto Mancini.
He returns to Merseyside four years after leaving following just one season under Rafael Benitez in which he scored nine goals.
“It’s a great signing. As a kid he always said he was a Liverpool fan,” said Carragher.
“I think he was quite disappointed with how it finished, with how he left.
“He’d have liked to have done a lot better and hopefully this gives him the chance to do that.
“For the last few years at Man City he has been excellent, not just as a striker but as a wide player.
“In the squad we’ve probably only got Stewart Downing as an out-and-out wide player.
“I think Craig prefers to play as a striker but he could certainly do that job for us.”
Carragher was also pleased to see the defence reinforced with the arrival of 6ft 6in Uruguay centre-back Sebastian Coates, who impressed during this summer’s Copa America.
“One centre-back [Sotirios Krygiakos] went so we needed another.
“Time will tell how good the lad is but his pedigree looks fantastic.”
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