Transfer Talk: Ozil deal stuns Europe

The transfer window, arguably the most explosive one to date, has finally fallen shut. Business hours are over.

A staggering £1.84 billion was spent across the Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, La Liga and Ligue 1 alone, with Real Madrid smashing the world-record fee - which they set when signing Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009 - with the £86m acquisition of Gareth Bale from Tottenham

But, while Bale was being presented to the Santiago Bernabeu faithful, another transaction
threatened to offer a marvellous crescendo to a window of unrivalled activity.

As revealed exclusively by Goal on Sunday evening, Arsenal were preparing to not only open their cheque book, but obliterate their record signing with the £40m capture of Mesut Ozil. Arsene Wenger may have left it late, but he pulled off one of the most stunning deadline day signings of all time. 

Meanwhile, Manchester United were beginning to panic. Having failed to sign that all-important creative midfielder, David Moyes returned to his former haunt, signing Marouane Fellaini for £27.5m - £4m more than the buyout clause United refused to meet before it's expiration at the end of July.