LONDON. —  Mesut Ozil is a “special talent” who has left a huge gap in Real Madrid’s dressing room after his record-breaking £42 million transfer to Arsenal.Ozil’s stunned former teammates on Monday expressed their shock at the deal and also that Real Madrid allowed the German — rated by Jose Mourinho as the best No. 10 in the world — to leave the Bernabeu.

Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos said: “I am very unhappy after the exit of Ozil. For me, he was a friend and a companion. Mesut is a special footballer who generates and plays the beautiful side of the game.

“If it was up to me then he would never have left. But it was the choice of the club. But I am totally convinced he will be a star at Arsenal.
“He is the king of the assist. I know Santi Cazorla well and together they will be an enormous spectacle. But I will miss him.”

That shows the level of respect and admiration for Ozil at Real Madrid but also puts into context Arsenal’s delight in pulling off the second biggest deal in English Premier League history as they have signed a genuine world class player. Mirror Sport can reveal that Arsenal’s stunning move into the big league was anything but a last-minute panic deal and the first seeds of the Ozil deal were sewn three months ago.

And in another great irony, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, who was believed to be holding up the Gareth Bale deal to Real Madrid so the Spanish club would not sell players to Arsenal, was left high and dry during the North London derby.

While Levy was in the boardroom at the Emirates, Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis was in Madrid brokering the deal on Sunday afternoon, transfer fixer Dick Law was in Germany for negotiations with Ozil’s father and agent Mustafa as they enjoyed a win double over Spurs on and off the pitch.

Gazidis, who used to work in the MLS, has known Real Madrid director-general Jose Angel Sanchez for more than 10 years after striking up contacts when the Spanish club tried to market themselves in the US.

Right at the start of the summer, when it was clear that Bale’s move may impact on whether Real Madrid would have to offload players, Arsenal made contact and asked to be kept informed on Ozil, Karim Benzema and Angel Di Maria.

But Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has always liked Ozil and tried to sign him three years ago before he moved to Real Madrid. Wenger has described him as his “dream player”, small, technical and a player who enjoys being coached and is willing to learn. — The Mirror.

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