News

Wenger: Ozil move has echoes of Bergkamp

Arsene Wenger agrees that the signing of Mesut Ozil has echoes of Arsenal's groundbreaking move for Dennis Bergkamp.

The Dutch master left Inter Milan for Highbury in 1995 - a year before Wenger was appointed manager - and his arrival was seen as a seminal moment in the Club's history, heralding a long period of success.

Arsenal paid a club record fee to secure Bergkamp and raised the bar again to capture Ozil, who joined from Real Madrid on transfer deadline day. Wenger says the two transfers bear comparison.

"Ozil was perceived by the whole world as being a huge success at Real Madrid so of course the noise made by a signature like that is big"

"It is comparable because they are similar players in the same department and they are big names who come from big teams," Wenger told Arsenal Player.

"You must say as well that Ozil was not perceived as being a failure at Real Madrid, he was perceived by the whole world as being a huge success at Real Madrid so of course the noise made by a signature like that is big."

According to Wenger, Arsenal's successful move for Ozil demonstrates the Club's ambition.

"They were questioning my desire to spend money, maybe the ambition as well because today the ambition is linked with the amount of money you spend," he said.

"We are very ambitious, we went through a few years where we had less resources and there is no shame to say that because we have built a new stadium. Now we are back with the ambition as big as everybody else, if not bigger."

ADVERT
See Full List

Fixtures & Results

Premier League
Ticket Info