Editing and Graphics By Conor Rees 

So it all came down to the last day of the transfer window. Arsenal had just come off a satisfying 1-0 win over a high spending Tottenham team and were keen to add to the squad, something the media, the fans and even the players have been begging Arsene Wenger and Ivan Gazidis to do all summer. With unflattering purchases of 2 free players in Sanogo and Flamini and Gazidis’ comments that the club were willing to spend, the club became a laughing stock with no big names arriving at Arsenal.  Then suddenly the club were in talks with Özil. I felt like I was dreaming and wanted someone to slap me to see if I was awake or not. After many hours of constantly refreshing Twitter, the Arsenal website and watching Sky Sports News, it was confirmed in the final minutes of the transfer window; he was an Arsenal player.  

        

At the time of writing, it still hasn’t sunk in that the club not only has signed what Jose Mourinho calls one of the best Number 10s in the world, but the club spending so much money on a single player. I’ve seen him modelling the kit but the amazement that he’s coming to play for my club fills me with excitement like a fat kid being offered a massive chocolate cake covered in Smarties and Mars bars. I’m now even feeling negative towards the upcoming internationals because I just want to see him play in an Arsenal shirt and watch him ping balls across the pitch like an explosion at a ping pong ball factory.

The stats are there to prove how fantastic and significant of a signing he is. Over his last 3 years for Real Madrid and Germany, he has managed to set up 94 goals and score 41 in 209 games which works out to being involved in a goal every 0.65 games or 1 in 2 games if you want to keep it simple. Compare Özil to former Arsenal player Cesc Fabregas and he assisted 49 goals over the same time period and that outlines how much of a great signing Özil is for Arsenal and stats like that just make me wonder how stupid you would have to be to let someone as pivotal and intelligent as Özil leave Real Madrid. Sure Gareth Bale came to the club and someone had to be sold to lighten the blow of spending £86 million, but it feels like such a bad mistake on Madrid’s part and is Arsenal’s gain. So cheers for that Perez, I’m toasting my can of cider to you.

With Özil as a Number 10, you can expect goals and lots of them. On Sunday against Tottenham, the front three of Giroud, Walcott and Cazorla were all making intelligent runs that needed an equally intelligent pass to complete the move. The thought of Özil being able to pass the ball with ease excites me so much and to think I was excited about Santi Cazorla’s arrival. His general presence will increase the team’s value and will surely increase our goal tally over the season as the fight for the Champions League places becomes increasingly harder and harder with Tottenham and Liverpool bringing in decent players over the transfer window.

Bringing Özil to the club sets a benchmark of what players Arsenal can attract over the coming years. If players like Özil are happy to come to the club, then fellow world class players are surely going to be interested in joining Arsenal. Along with that, spending £42.5 million shows the financial muscle that the club can flex and shows the club are now able to spend at will on world class players and now grow stronger and stronger and end that frequently mentioned trophy drought. The time of paying the Emirates stadium debt is nearing at its end and now Arsenal can push on and challenge for titles and cups and it’s something Özil can help the club towards.

During Mike Trevelyan's post looking at the transfer window, he wrote about the purchase of Mesut Özil in which he said “the signing of Ozil might drive the Gunners into securing that 4th place finish and keep other teams such as North London rivals Spurs, and Liverpool at bay.” Maybe it’s the Arsenal bias and the buzz of signing him but finishing fourth is the bare minimum now. A signing of his weight not only makes finishing in the Top 4 a certain possibility, but could cause Arsenal to have an outside chance of the title. I could eat on those words, but who knows. If Arsenal have a strong start to the season, the injury Gods are kind on the team and Arsenal are within 8 points of top spot, Arsene may spend on one or two players in the January transfer window, there’s a chance we could be in the running this year. Or at least get a trophy.

Finally!!!

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Liga BBVA

1. Gareth Bale, Tottenham – Real Madrid €100millon

The Welshman once almost joined Birmingham City on loan in 2009, the deal could have led to a £3m transfer as the left back struggled to break into the Spurs XI. But the young player has slowly over the years moved up into a left winger and now a central attacker. He has quickly developed into one of the world’s best players and his performances against Inter Milan in the Champions League introduced the player to the world as one of the best. He still has a lot to learn though and even though he is the world’s most valuable player he still isn’t on the same level as Messi and Ronaldo, but where better to learn than standing in the same squad as Ronaldo this season.

2. Neymar,  Santos – Barcelona €57millon 

Neymar Jr is one of the world’s most promising footballers with 107 first team goals and 179 appearances at the age of only 21. He is quickly proving that he is one of the game’s greatest assets, not only from his time at Santos but for his recent performances for Brazil during their Confederations Cup victory.

3. Isco, Malaga – Real Madrid €27m 

Cash strapped Malaga have had to sell many of their prized assets this summer. One player that has moved on is Isco. He is a rising star in Spanish football and is already a regular in Ancelotti’s team scoring 3 goals in 3 games so far, this is one factor that lead to Ozil’s departure this summer to Arsenal. Isco has proved that he can perform on a higher stage as well during Malaga’s impressive run in last year’s Champions League.

4. David Villa Barcelona- Atletico Madrid €5.1m 

Atletico Madrid have lost some key strikers over the years, Forlan’s move to Inter Milan back in 2011, Aguero’s transfer to Man City and now following the departure of Rademal Falcao Atletico Madrid need to find a natural goal scorer. With David villa they now have one of the finest finishers in the game, being Spain’s all-time leading goal scorer with 56 goals its understandable that Barcelona paid Valencia €40m for the striker. During his three year stay at the Nou Camp the striker has been plagued with long and short term injuries, despite that Villa still managed 33 goals in 77 appearances.

5. Daniel Carvajal, Bayern Leverkusen – Real Madrid €6.5m  

Carvajal was only sold to Leverkusen last summer from Real for €5 after failing to break into the Madrid side. But after a very impressive season at Bayern Real feel he is now ready to challenge for a starting position and take the number one right back role away from Arbeloa who at times has been criticised for not being good enough for one of the biggest clubs in the world.

Serie A

1. Higuain, Real Madrid – Napoli €37m 

The price in which Napoli paid could be argued to be €10m-€15m over what he is worth, but Higuain is still an extraordinary finisher and his record backs that up, 107 goals from 190 appearances for Real over the course of his five year stay. But despite his record he now has big boots to fill after Cavani’s departure to PSG.

2. Ogbonna, Torine – Juventus €13m 

Juventus have completed the signing of one of the most complete defenders in the game. With he’s pace, strength & technique he has the potential to be one of the best defenders in the world and the 25 year old could easily be a long term replacement to Chiellini.

3. Mario Gomez, Bayern – Florentina €16m 

This time last year Gomez was one of the top strikers in the world, but after a year where his starting spot has been given to Mario Mandzukic it was time for the 28 year old to move on to reclaim the title of being one of the world’s most clinical strikers.

4. Carlos Tevez, Man City – Juventus €11.8m 

His time at Man City has been a mixed bag due to off field antics and a congested group of strikers at the Ethiad, but during his time in England he has always been a goal threat and I’m sure this is a trend he will continue at Champions Juventus.

5. Jose Callejon, Real Madrid – Napoli €10m 

Callejon arrived in Naples with fellow real team mates Raul Albiol and Gonzalo Higuain. He is a solid winger with bags of pace that can also be played as a striker if need as a replacement for Higuain or to be played just of the front man. He is also fairly capable of scoring a few goals through the season.

Bundesgliga

1. Mario Gotze, Dortmund – Bayern Munich €37m 

Gotze is definitely one of the world’s quickest developing talents, even at a young age he is proving that he should be playing among the best, it’s only a matter of time before he is one of the best.

2. Mkhitaryan, Shakhtar Donetsk - Borussia Dortmund €27.5

He is an all round midfielder who has a great goal scoring record and looks a great replacement for Gotze. The Armenia born midfielder has scored 38 goals in 72 games for Shakhtar over his three year stay in Ukraine and looks certain to flourish alongside Gundogan . 

2. Aubameyeang, Saint-Étienne – Borussia Dortmund €13m 

He is strong and quick, standing at 6’ 1 there is sure to also be an aerial threat from the Gabon striker. His time at Saint-Étienne has been short, being there for only two season he has quickly show why he deserves a step up in his career. The natural striker moved to Dortmund and has adapted to a new left sided position, one to which he has taken well scoring hat-trick on his debut.

3. Kevin-Prince Boateng, AC Milan – Schalke 04 €12m 

KPB has shown he has great quality from his time at A.C Milan. The midfielder gets crucial goals, for example against Barcelona in the Champions League, and his strong physique combined with his trickery is sure to be a fan favourite at the German club.

4. Thaigo Barcelona – Bayern €25m 

Thaigo failed to break through to the starting xi at Barcelona, a midfield that even the best players would struggle to break into at the moment. Thiago wanted to play first team football which has led to he’s departure. A host of clubs including Man Utd was after his signature but former boss Pep Guardiola won the race to sign the young midfielder and has plans to feature him as a regular in the Bayern starting XI.

      

Top 10 Premier League Transfer’s 2012/2013

This photo, “Santi Cazorla ” is copyright (c) 2013 Ronnie MacDonald and made available under a attribution type http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronmacphotos/7810855402/

Okay, so here is the second part of my top Premier League transfers 2012/2013 so far. If you missed part one where I listed places 10-6 of the top ten, then follow then link below to see them.

http://thetotallyentertainment.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/top-10-premier-league-transfers-20122013.html

5. Eden Hazard

He hasn’t necessarily been the star of the show this season for Chelsea, with Juan Mata being Chelsea’s best player so far this season. Since his arrival from Lille, for a fee of about £35m, he has scored 8 times from his 23 appearances. He was in my opinion the best player in Liege 1 last season and I’m glad someone brought him to the Premier league. He is the second Belgium talent to feature in this top ten and I’m really excited to see this new young array of talent coming out of Belgium. Hazard is still very young and his speed, agility, skill with the ball and the ability to run rings around a defence is why he is so good. His attacking threat has also been needed, along with Mata’s performance step up, due to the underperforming Torres.

4. Roman Lukaku (Loan)

Probably one of the best loan deals I’ve seen in a while. Lukaku arrived from Anderlecht in 2011 for £13m and didn’t feature at all last season for Chelsea. Since West Brom secured the loan of the Belgium striker from Chelsea he has amassed 13 goals so far and been a key feature to the Baggies successful season.  The young nineteen year old will surely fit straight into Chelsea’s squad next season and is part of the Belgium players that Chelsea continue to loan out, including Courtoius (on loan at Athletico Madrid) and Kevin De Bruyne (on loan at Werder Bremen). The young player is one of those rarities that has that burst of pace along with the strength to wade off the oppositions defence and then the ability to put the ball past the goalkeeper. There is a lot of room to grow and I’m sure he could perhaps be lethal in front of goal and a suitable replacement to Didier Drogba for Chelsea.

3. Santi Cazorla

Brought for an undisclosed fee of around £12m from Malaga in the summer, he has been a great addition to Arsenal. Santi Cazorla is one of those players who have that superb vision and the technical ability to accurately pass the ball from one side of the pitch to the other. He has been a regular feature in Arsenals midfield and provided 11 goals for the gunners this season.  In my opinion he is one of Spain’s best talents along with Juan Mata, but neither gets a look-in compared to Spain’s compact midfield revolving around players from Barcelona and Real Madrid. He has definitely been pulling the strings for Arsenal and been a great player in the absence of Jack Wilshire. I’m really looking forward to seeing the pairing of those two plying together in the foreseeable future.

2. Michu

Now this was definitely a close call between first and second. Michu has absolutely been bargain of the season arriving for a fee of around £2.5m. I was surprised no one else picked up this player with his great performances for Rayo Vallecano last season. The top Spanish clubs seemed to overlook the Spaniard along with the rest of Europe’s best. More so I’m surprised Swansea was able to get Michu’s services for as little as they did. He has supplied Swansea with 15 goals so far from 28 appearances. He has fit nicely alongside Swansea’s other signing of Pablo Hernandez and with Swansea’s style of play. He is a clinical finisher and that is proved with the number of goals he has got so far. He can win balls in the air and add to the build-up play. But most of all you can tell he is enjoying his football at Swansea and has recently came out and said he 

is giving Swansea his full commitment.

1.       Van Persie

The reason I have chosen Van Persie as number 1 is because of the fact he has the key reason why Man Utd have won the title this season or extremely likely to win the title this year.  After he got top goal scorer last season he was the perfect player to add to Man Utd to retake the title from their rivals grasps. RVP has scored 19 goals so far from 26 appearances and there isn’t too much else to say. He is that clinical striker he was last year but now pared with a striking talent (something that he didn’t have at Arsenal), in Rooney, and with Man City not really making any influential signings that have made an impact over the summer and in January it has nailed down Man Uts’ success this season in my opinion.