Gunners leave it late to snare Ozil

Arsenal left it late on deadline day to confirm they had broken their transfer record with the signing of Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid.

The Gunners announced in the final hour before the summer window closed at 11pm that the 24-year-old Germany international had put pen to paper on a “long-term” contract with them, with the deal being “subject to the completion of regulatory processes”.

The fee was undisclosed, but it is reported that Arsenal paid 50million euros (£42.4million) for Ozil.

Manager Arsene Wenger had seen moves for Gonzalo Higuain, Luis Suarez and Yohan Cabaye all fail to come off this summer, but finally he was able to land a big-name signing following the free transfer arrivals of Yaya Sanogo and Mathieu Flamini and a loan deal for Italy goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano, whose switch for a season from Palermo was confirmed earlier on deadline day.

Arsenal are also understood to have made a bid to sign Chelsea forward Demba Ba on loan, although that had not materialised by the time the deadline passed and it seems the Senegal international will be staying at Stamford Bridge.