adminLONDON. — Arsenal smashed their transfer record by luring German playmaker Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid on Monday night, while Manchester United made a late move to sign Marouane Fellaini from Everton. Amid dizzying activity in the closing hours of the close-season transfer window, Arsenal grabbed the headlines with a sensational swoop for Ozil worth a reported fee of £42,4 million.
The move came on the day that Gareth Bale was presented as a Madrid player after leaving Arsenal’s arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of around £80 million, paving the way for Ozil’s exit.
Arsenal said Ozil had signed a “long-term contract,” with a reported duration of five years, after he underwent a medical examination in Munich.
“We are extremely pleased to have signed Mesut Ozil,” said long-serving Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who had come under pressure from the club’s fans to deliver a major signing.
“We have watched and admired him for some time as he has all the attributes I look for in an Arsenal player.”
Ozil told the Arsenal website: “I am thrilled to be joining a club of the stature of Arsenal and am looking forward to playing in the Premier League.”
Arsenal, who had never previously spent more than £15 million on a player, also announced the signing of 27-year-old Italy international goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano from Palermo on a season-long loan.
Ozil’s transfer was the most significant development on a day when gross spending by English Premier League soccer clubs during the close-season transfer window surpassed £500 million for the first time, according to financial consultants Deloitte.
After a frustrating first summer as United manager, David Moyes brought in Belgian midfielder Fellaini, with whom he worked at Everton, in a deal worth £27,5 million.
“Manchester United is delighted to announce the signing of Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini from Everton,” said a statement on United’s website.
Manager David Moyes added: “He is a player with great ability and strength and I think he will make a real difference to our squad.”
Fellaini said he was “thrilled” with the move and that he “jumped at the chance” to renew his relationship with former Everton boss Moyes.
Everton earlier confirmed the sale, adding that the price tag was £27.5 million.
However, the reigning English champions missed out with approaches for Madrid’s Portuguese left-back Fabio Coentrao and Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera.
Britain’s Press Association claimed United were too late in submitting their request to sign Coentrao on loan, while bizarre reports from Spain said the move for Herrera collapsed after three imposters claiming to represent the club found their way into the Spanish league offices.
Everton also sold striker Victor Anichebe to West Bromwich Albion for a fee that could rise to £6 million, but they signed Irish midfielder James McCarthy in a £13 million deal from Wigan Athletic.
Moyes’s successor, Roberto Martinez, was also able to seal loan moves for Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry and Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku, who was allowed to leave Chelsea despite impressing on loan at West Brom last season.
Current English Premier League leaders Liverpool completed three transfers earlier in the day.
Defenders Mamadou Sakho and Tiago Ilori joined from Paris Saint-Germain and Sporting Lisbon respectively, while winger Victor Moses arrived on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
Liverpool reportedly paid a combined amount of £25 million to sign Ilori and France international centreback Sakho, who had fallen down the pecking order at PSG.
“I came here because the project that is in place at Liverpool interests me,” Sakho (23) told Liverpool’s official website.
Aston Villa made Czech international striker Libor Kozak their seventh new recruit of the close-season, signing him from Lazio on a four-year contract for a reported fee of around £7 million.
West Brom broke their transfer record to take Benin midfielder Stephane Sessegnon from Sunderland, who signed Italian striker Fabio Borini on loan from Liverpool and left-back Andrea Dossena from Napoli.
Seven months after his aborted exit from West Brom on the final day of the January transfer window, when he drove to Loftus Road in hope of joining Queens Park Rangers, Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie left the Hawthorns to join Cardiff City on a two-year contract.
The 10 biggest transfers involving English clubs to have taken place since the end of the 2012-13 season (all transfer fees as reported by British media)
GARETH BALE (Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid/ESP; £77-86 million): For all the money lavished on new players over the past three months, the most high-profile transfer involving an English club was a sale. Welsh forward Bale, 24, swapped White Hart Lane for the Bernabeu after a dazzling season with Tottenham in which he scored 26 league goals. Reports in England claimed he had broken the world transfer record established by his new Madrid team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo’s £80 million move from Manchester United in 2009, but Spanish reports said the fee was lower.
MESUT OZIL (Real Madrid/ESP to Arsenal; £42,4 million): One downside of Bale’s move to Madrid for the selling club was that it persuaded the Spanish giants to allow Germany international Mesut Ozil to leave for Spurs’ arch rivals Arsenal. Manager Arsene Wenger has been criticised by Arsenal’s fans for his reluctance to spend money on new players in recent years, but he smashed the club’s transfer record to bring the immensely gifted 24-year-old playmaker to the Emirates Stadium.
ERIK LAMELA (Roma/ITA to Tottenham Hotspur; £30 million): After being pipped to a Champions League place by Arsenal last season, Spurs spent around £110 million on seven players, with Lamela the third new recruit to break the club’s transfer record.
The 21-year-old Argentine attacking midfielder is a talented dribbler with a fine left foot and will be expected to soften the blow of Bale’s departure.
WILLIAN (Anzhi Makhachkala/RUS to Chelsea; £30 million): Tottenham also hoped to add Brazilian schemer Willian to their ranks, but after completing a medical at the club, his move to White Hart Lane was hijacked by Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.
The tall attacking midfielder with the afro haircut scored against Chelsea twice for Shakhtar Donetsk in last season’s Champions League and left Anzhi as part of a fire sale sanctioned by the Russian club’s billionaire owner Suleiman Kerimov.
FERNANDINHO (Shakhtar Donetsk/UKR to Manchester City; £30 million): A former team-mate of Willian’s at Shakhtar, Fernandinho arrived in England two months earlier after signing for 2012 league champions Manchester City.
An industrious box-to-box midfielder, the 28-year-old will hope to form an understanding with Ivorian powerhouse Yaya Toure in the centre of the City midfield.
MAROUANE FELLAINI (Everton to Manchester United; £27,5 million): New Manchester United manager David Moyes saw approaches for several transfer targets rejected before finally turning to Fellaini, with whom he worked at previous club Everton.
The 25-year-old Belgian international will bring brawn and aerial presence to a central midfield that has looked short of power in recent seasons.
ROBERTO SOLDADO (Valencia/ESP to Tottenham Hotspur; £26 million): After scoring over 25 goals in three consecutive seasons for Valencia, Soldado took a risk by moving to England as he looks to nail down a place in the Spain squad for next year’s World Cup.
He has made a convincing start to life in north London, however, scoring the winning goal from the penalty spot in his first two league games.
STEVAN JOVETIC (Fiorentina/ITA to Manchester City; £22 million): Jovetic, a 23-year-old Montenegro international, was signed to bolster City’s forward line following the departures of Mario Balotelli and Carlos Tevez.
A creative second striker, who had previously been linked to Arsenal, he is still to make his competitive debut due to a hamstring complaint.
ALVARO NEGREDO (Sevilla/ESP to Manchester City; £20 million): Negredo, a rival to Soldado at international level, alighted at the Etihad Stadium on the same July day as Jovetic after four consistently impressive seasons with Sevilla.
An athletic target man, the 28-year-old scored his first City goal with a stoppage-time header in a 3-2 defeat at Cardiff City on August 25.
ANDRE SCHUERRLE (Bayer Leverkusen/GER to Chelsea; £18 million): Germany international Schuerrle joined Chelsea in June, adding to the dizzying array of forward players at Mourinho’s disposal.
The hard-working 22-year-old can play in several positions across the front line and was used as a lone striker in the recent 0-0 draw at Manchester United. — AFP.
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