Spurs manager a fan of Gunners new-boy.
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Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas admits Arsenal are a stronger side with new signing Mesut Ozil in the team, even if they paid “heavily” for the player, according to the Guardian.
Ozil became Arsenal’s record signing when he joined for £42m on transfer deadline day from Spanish giants Real Madrid, in a move that stole headlines all over the footballing world, despite the fine work done in the market by Tottenham this summer.
Villas-Boas says he is happy with his new signings, but admits that Ozil can make a difference to Arsenal, even if he was an expensive purchase for a player whose position they already have reasonably well-covered.
“Real Madrid sold a player for €50m, a wonderful, gifted footballer and in the end Arsenal paid heavily for a player of that dimension,” he said. “It’s a €50m transfer for a No10 that nobody has any doubt over his ability.
“They have lots of players for that position also but they have become even stronger with Ozil.”
The Portuguese coach also says he had no issues with Real Madrid for selling such a key player to their rivals, despite his team forming a special partnership last summer after Luka Modric made the move from White Hart Lane to the Bernabeu.
Some Spurs fans have reacted angrily to Real’s £85m purchase of Gareth Bale seemingly leading to the club feeling they could let Ozil go, meaning Arsenal have been significantly strengthened while Spurs have been weakened after losing their best player.
“The fact that Real Madrid sold him to Arsenal for that price, we can’t say anything – we are happy with what we have and Real Madrid are happy,” he added.
“We are happy with what we have done in the transfer window, extremely happy. Arsenal did a great last-minute coup with Ozil but they will be as competitive as they were before.”