Gunners agree Ozil deal
Arsenal have agreed a deal with Real Madrid to sign Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil, Press Association Sport understands.
The 24-year-old is now set to discuss personal terms over the proposed transfer, believed to be a club-record bid of 50million euros (£42.2m), and then look to complete a medical ahead of the 11pm transfer deadline.
Before Sunday's 1-0 win over big-spending Tottenham, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger had seen moves for Gonzalo Higuain, Luis Suarez and Yohan Cabaye all fail to come off, but it would now appear the Emirates Stadium club are close to finally landing a big-name signing.
Wenger's only summer purchases so far had been the free transfers of Yaya Sanogo and Mathieu Flamini.
However, the Arsenal manager was confident the 100million euro (£85.3m) switch of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid would set in place a "domino" effect, and thus allow the likes of 24-year-old Germany international Ozil to come onto the market at the 11th hour.
Arsenal - who have been linked with Ozil's Real Madrid team-mates Karim Benzema and Angel di Maria and a loan move for Chelsea striker Demba Ba - are also expected to bring in some goalkeeping cover, with a loan deal for Palermo stopper Emiliano Viviano.
Although Wenger may be sitting on a £70m warchest, he insists the club will not be held to ransom as the last-gasp shopping dash begins.
''I am not against spending. I am ready to pay what we can afford, even if it is a bit over the market (value) and as long as it is not crazy,'' he said.
Arsenal have responded well since they lost the opening Premier League game at home to Aston Villa, winning at Fulham and also securing a place in the group stages of the Champions League by beating Fenerbahce both at home and away.
However, the need for getting in extra bodies was highlighted by the inclusion of youngsters Serge Gnabry and Gedion Zelalem, only 16, on the bench after Arsenal's first-team squad had been decimated by injuries to key men like Lukas Podolski, Mikel Arteta and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Source : http://www.football.co.uk/arsenal/gunners_agree_ozil_deal_rss4392170.shtml