Arsenal have agreed a £42.4m deal with Real Madrid to sign Germany international midfielder Mesut Ozil.
The 24-year-old has agreed personal terms with the Gunners and is set to undergo medical in Germany, where he is on international duties, before the final transfer formalities.
The deal, when completed, takes over from the £15m paid Zenith St Petersburg for Andre Arshavin in January 2009 as a club record transfer and probably the biggest deadline day sale so far.
Having failed on some high profile attempts like Real’s Gonzalo Higuain and Liverpool’s Luis Suarez, the London club are close to signing Ozil and Palermo goalkeeper, Emiliano Viviano on loan.
It is also believed that Gareth Bale’s world-record £85.3m switch to Madrid paved way for further deal and the impending recruitment of the midfielder.
Ozil joined Real from Werder Bremen in 2010 for a fee believed to be about £12.4m and has featured 155 times scoring a total of 23 goals.
He came through the youth ranks of the German national team and has now capped 47 times for Germany, scoring 14 times.
