:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/18873859/169770060.0.jpg)
According to the Spanish paper AS, Mesut Özil has officially signed for Arsenal. They say the deal is for five years, with a yearly salary of €8.5 million (about £7.2 million a year). The fee is reported at €45 million with €4.6 million in add-ons - that's approximately £38 million and £3.8 million, respectively.
Most of the rest of the story is what we already know, aside from one thing - evidently, Per Mertesacker was instrumental in convincing Özil to come.
Want more? Here's David Ornstein:
Arsenal will confirm the signing of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid for €50m (£42.4m) in the next half an hour #bbcfootball #afc #rmfc
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) September 2, 2013
So he's got the numbers a little bit differently, but I'm okay with that amount as well. It's closer to what we've heard already, anyway.
It sounds like La Liga is on board, as well.
La LFP confirma la baja federativa de Ozil. A las 23:30h en C+Liga todos los detalles.
— Pablo Pinto (@pablopinto99) September 2, 2013
What's that mean? We'll see sister blog Managing Madrid for help.
Canal Plus also confirming the news. Özil is not on Real's roster anymore according to the LFP (La Liga).
— Managing Madrid (@managingmadrid) September 2, 2013
It appears that at the very least, Mesut Özil is no longer a Real Madrid player. We may finally be home, people.
EDIT:
As I was writing this post, Sky Sports News read a statement from Mesut Özil, saying essentially that he's pleased to move to Arsenal, though he grew as a player and a person at Madrid. This deal should be official very soon, it sounds. Get happy.