One Wenger phone call sealed 42 million pounds Ozil deal

There can be no single occasion during the entire 17 years of Arsene Wenger's tenure at Arsenal when having a multilingual manager has been more useful. After months of on-off negotiations, the club's chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, was made aware on Saturday that Real Madrid would be willing to sell Mesut Ozil for 42 million pounds.

The problem, however, was that Ozil himself had always seen his future at Madrid and would need some convincing. Wenger immediately broke off from his preparations for Sunday's north London derby, dialled Ozil's phone number and, after a series of lengthy conversations in German, was quietly confident that the deal had been done. He had outlined his vision for how he wants his team to play, how he saw Ozil becoming his creative conductor and, above all, how this would just be the start of Arsenal competing with the superpowers of European football for the world's best players.

Conversations with Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski followed, leaving Ozil convinced. While Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy was at the Emirates watching his team lose 1-0 to Arsenal, Gazidis was arriving in Spain to conclude a deal with Madrid. Dick Law, the club's contact negotiator, and doctor Gary O'Driscoll were also travelling to Germany to complete personal terms and a medical with Ozil at the national team's base in Munich.

The subsequent knowledge of firm interest and potentially more money from either Paris St-Germain or Manchester United did not sway Ozil. What counted, after being so surprisingly discarded by Madrid, was the sense of having a manager with such total belief in him.

"At the weekend, I was certain that I would stay at Real Madrid but afterwards I realised that I did not have the faith from the coach or the bosses," said Ozil. "I am a player who needs this faith. Wenger gives me the faith and I can develop further. I know what I can do and I know that I could make the grade with any club in the world because I am so convinced in myself." Soon after the deal was clinched, Jurgen Klinsmann sent Ozil a message telling him Wenger's Arsenal would be the perfect fit.

"Mesut just wants to play, he wants nothing to do with the politics you get at some clubs, he just wants to have fun and, away from the pitch, his family are absolutely number one," said a friend. Of the seven people Ozil employs to look after his affairs, five are family members. His father, Mustafa, also acts as his agent. Ozil is a third generation German, with his grandfather moving from Turkey when Mustafa was just two. His family settled in a largely Turkish neighbourhood in the Bismarck district of Gelsenkirchen and, like Robin van Persie in Rotterdam, his technical process was shaped while playing in what they called Affenkafig: 'the monkey cage'. It was a gravel pitch surrounded by fences that ensured play was always intense and continuous.

Ozil is the sort of street footballer that Wenger most adores. His hero was Zinedine Zidane. Lars Wallrodt, the chief football writer of the German newspaper Die Welt, has met Ozil's old friends from the Bismarck cage. "They all said the same - that Mesut was the best player at the age of eight when they were all 12," said Wallrodt.

"They didn't have any chance. He was a fantastic natural player but also always focused on how he was going to make it. There is no more elegant player in the world. He is a quiet and modest guy, not someone you see out at parties." Although Ozil has shied away from the celebrity circuit in Madrid, his relationship with singer Mandy Capristo has ensured he appears on the front as well as back pages of the German press. Ozil's faith is also a significant part of his life. A practising Muslim, he recites passages from the Koran before he goes out to play. When his needs as a professional athlete allow, he also does continue to follow Ramadan.

The global following for both Ozil and Arsenal was quickly evident on Monday. Within hours of his move being announced, Ozil was taken aback to learn that he had added one million Facebook followers. Similarly, Arsenal have noted that Ozil's Twitter following of more than three million actually exceeds their own club feed. Ozil's popularity derives from his graceful playing style.

Ruud Gullit has described Ozil as "technically perfect" while Mourinho has likened his style to "art" and hailed him as the best No10 in the world. Ozil is now entering his peak and has also been strengthened physically by gaining almost a stone in body weight during his three years at Madrid. Ozil will certainly add stature to Arsenal.

The message on Tuesday was that this was just the beginning and tangible evidence of a new era at Arsenal of permanently enhanced financial firepower. Most importantly, this signing has prompted a shift in the narrative that surrounds the club.

Staff at the Emirates yesterday were excitedly calling it a 'Bergkamp' moment. From regularly selling some of the world's best players over the past three years, Arsenal have become a buying club again.