JOIN USArsenal paid Real Madrid a club record fee for Germany playmaker Mesut Ozil and Manchester United bought Belgium midfielder Marouane Fellaini from Everton in a crazy last hour before the transfer window closed on Monday.
The two big-money deals followed close on the heels of Wales winger Gareth Bale's world record move from Tottenham Hotspur to Real on Sunday worth 100 million euros.
After a quiet start to deadline day, things began hotting up when Arsenal smashed their club record by spending 42.5 million pounds on Ozil.
The fee eclipsed the previous highest of 15 million pounds that the North London side paid for Russia forward Andrey Arshavin in 2009.
It was also the first major signing of the window for Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who had been heavily criticised by the fans and the media for not buying new players.
"I have said throughout the summer that we have been working hard to bring in top-quality players," he told the club website after landing long-term target Ozil, 24.
"This has involved many, many people across the club and I have always had the full support of the club in making decisions on the football side.
The Gunners have endured a frustrating eight-year wait for silverware since winning the FA Cup in 2005.
Ozil joined his hometown club Schalke in 2006, aged 18, and after two years with the Gelsenkirchen club moved to Werder Bremen in 2008.
After making 71 appearances for Werder he left for Real Madrid following impressive displays for Germany at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He has 47 caps and has scored 17 international goals.
Ozil quit Real to join Arsenal because he realised he no longer had the confidence of Real coach Carlo Ancelotti. Ozil sulked after Ancelotti substituted him in last month’s La Liga match at Granada and the Italian then left him on the bench for Sunday’s 3-1 victory at home to Athletic Bilbao.
“I was certain...that I would stay at Real Madrid,” Ozil said in an interview published on the German soccer federation’s website (www.dfb.de) on Tuesday.
“Then I realised that I didn’t have the confidence of the coach and the officials after all,” added the 24-year-old of Turkish origin.
“I am a player who needs that confidence and I saw that I would have that at Arsenal and that is why I am going there.”
United get Fellaini
It was also all quiet on the north-western front at Arsenal's Premier League rivals Manchester United until manager David Moyes ended his long pursuit of Fellaini by returning to his former club Everton to sign the mop-haired Belgian. Fellaini, 25, cost the Premier League champions $43 million, Everton said on their website.
Everton were also busy recruiting on deadline day, signing young Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku.