Arsenal transfer deadline day moments: Mesut Ozil’s big-money move from Real Madrid, underwhelming Andre Santos, Thomas Partey and Lucas Torreira swap

If any club in the Premier League know the value of a dramatic transfer deadline day it’s certainly Arsenal.

The Gunners are almost synonymous with doing late business with incomings and outgoings a key part of keeping supporters on their toes late into the evening on the last day of the transfer window.

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Unfortunately while some deals have proved to be wonderful pieces of business, others haven’t quite worked out how the North London side would want.

Deals involving Andrey Arshavin, Kim Kallstrom and Alexis Sanchez all spring to mind but with so many transfers to choose from we’ve picked out five deals from summer deadline days over the years to look through.

With that in mind here are five memorable moments from Arsenal’s deadline days over the years.

Andre Santos signs from Fenerbahce

Not all deadline day signings can be classics and that’s certainly the case for Andre Santos.

The 28-year-old Brazilian joined the club from Turkish side Fenerbahce on the final day of the summer window in 2011, much to Arsene Wenger’s delight.

Speaking at the unveiling, Wenger said: “Santos is a quality player, with the ability to both defend well and get forward.”

“He has experience in the Champions League and for Brazil and has proven he can deliver at the highest level.

“We welcome Santos to the club and look forward to him having a big impact for us.”

Unfortunately things didn’t quite work out for the wing-back after making just 23 appearances for the club and even asking Robin Van Persie for his shirt during the half-time interval with Manchester United.

Mesut Ozil signs from Real Madrid

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One of the most memorable deadline day deals in Premier League history.

Arsenal had been chasing the German international throughout the course of the summer of 2013 but with time running out it seemed like a deal could prove tricky to pull off.

Thankfully for supporters a £42.4m deal went through at the last-minute.

Despite his Arsenal career ending on something of a sour note, Ozil provided 121 goal involvements in 254 appearances for the Gunners before joining Fenerbahce.

Emiliano Viviano

The summer of 2013 was remembered for the deal to sign Mesut Ozil, but he wasn’t the only addition on deadline day.

Emiliano Viviano looked like he was going to be the only deal done on deadline day after joining on a season-long loan deal from Italian side Palermo.

The move was met with a collective shrug from supporters after signing a loan deal with the option to purchase, something that the Gunners politely declined.

Viviano failed to make a single appearance for Arsenal during his year at the club and it’s just lucky that the signing of Ozil spared the club’s blushes when it came to last-minute signings.

Two in, one out

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Transfer deadline day in the summer of 2019 was a busy one for Arsenal.

While the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Nicholas Pepe had strengthened their offensive options the Gunners were looking for defensive additions ahead of the season ahead.

Two late deals were in the offing however as Arsenal completed a deal to sign Kieran Tierney from Celtic and David Luiz from Chelsea on a free transfer.

It represented a busy day for incomings, but the business wasn’t limited to that.

The Gunners also offloaded Alex Iwobi to Everton for a reported fee of £28million to recoup some valuable funds after a busy old summer.

A lengthy pursuit comes to fruition

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They love leaving their business to the last-minute and last summer was no different for Arsenal.

Arsenal had already signed the likes of Cedric Soares, Willian and Gabriel Magalhaes but one position that the club were looking to strengthen was in the middle of the park.

Thomas Partey was the man who supporters wanted and after a lengthy pursuit that looked like fizzling out, the Atletico Madrid man completed his move to North London.

That deal also opened the door for two high-profile departures as Mateo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira completed loan moves away to Hertha Berlin and Atletico Madrid, with Torreira proving to be a makeweight in the deal to sign Partey.