Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla has admitted that he felt like a little kid when he heard the news that the club had signed Real Madrid star Mesut Ozil.
Arsene Wenger shocked the footballing world when he spent £43million on just one player, smashing his previous transfer record of just £15million, and when Cazorla heard the news, he felt like a childhood fan.
The Spain international said: ‘I spoke to friends of mine at Madrid who told me that Mesut was talking to Arsenal and that he wanted to leave. You think, “How are Madrid going to let Mesut get away?” He’s one of the best players in the world and the truth is you don’t really believe it.
‘Then one day the manager said to us, “We’ve signed Mesut, he’s going for his medical”.
‘I was like a little kid. I knew that a great player was coming and that because of the way he plays, he was going to be a perfect fit for us.’
Ever since making the move from Spain to England, Ozil has given Arsenal a massive boost and people are now talking about them being potential title challengers, something that Cazorla agrees with.
‘We know the second we drop our intensity we’re going to lose points,’ said Cazorla.
‘The defeat against Manchester United still hurts but there is consolation in the manner of defeat.
‘We could have sent out a message and opened up a gap but we said to each other after the game,
‘Last year we lost here 2-1 but they rolled us over. This year it’s different. You look at the stats and you see two shots for them, two shots for us, corners six to five”.
‘Someone brought the newspaper in and showed us that United had 39 per cent of the ball. It’s one of those where you ask yourself, “Why did they beat us?” ’
‘The manager is much more focused in terms of what the team needs,’ he said. ‘We know exactly what we have to do if we are going to keep this up all season.’
Written by Alex Batt – @AlexBatt – @AlexsArticles
