Mesut Özil is no longer a Real Madrid player as his lightning fast transfer to Arsenal was finally announced late on Monday after only becoming a real possibility in the last few days.

The German player will move to London for €45 million, with the possibility of an extra payment of €5 million built into the deal. Real has now received €111.5 million for the sale of players this summer, a new record.

After passing a medical in Munich, the player closed what has been seen as a controversial transfer in the Spanish capital due to the German's standing within the squad and his obvious talent. Özil will earn a net annual salary of €7.5 million (around €220,000 a week) for the five years of the contract he has signed with the London club.

The story of this deal first began in the club's offices in the Santiago Bernabéu on 14th January. It was there where the player's father, Mustafa, met with club General Director Jose Ángel Sánchez to discuss a possible contract extension and an increase in his son's wages. The German had decided he deserved wages to match some of his 'galáctico' team mates and that was too much for the club that already paid him around €5 million per season.

Mesut then let it be known in the dressing room that he would not mind a move to the Premier League where he thought he would be more valued. A few weeks ago Ancelotti met with Sánchez and was asked who he would prefer to let go between Özil and Angel Di María. When the answer came back from the Italian that Di María should stay the writing was on the wall for Özil and the rest is history.