Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has revealed that he personally called Arsene Wenger to help push through his move to the club from Real Madrid in 2013.
The 28-year-old arrived at the Emirates Stadium on deadline day for a club-record £42.5m fee following a three-year spell at Madrid during which time he established himself as one of the most highly-rated playmakers in world football.
Once he opted to leave the Bernabeu, though, Ozil revealed that his first thought was to contact Wenger in the hope that he would bring him to Arsenal.
"I called a number that I'd saved in my phone back in 2010. 'Mr Wenger,' I said, 'I promised that you'd be the first person I'd contact if I were ever looking for another club. Now I am'," he wrote in his book Gunning for Greatness.
"Arsene Wenger told me that he had been keeping an eye on me the whole time and that he liked how I'd developed. And all of a sudden I had that positive feeling again, the one I'd had during our telephone conversation back in 2010.
"I sensed that this man, who I'd never met personally, had a very high opinion of me and trusted me. Exactly what I needed at this difficult time. Jose Mourinho was astonished. 'You didn't say anything to me. I thought you wanted to finish your career at Real Madrid,' he texted me."
Ozil has gone on to make 151 appearances for the Gunners, scoring 30 goals and setting up a further 54.
Barney Corkhill
