Former Arsenal chief Dick Law has revealed how Manchester United attempted to sign Mesut Ozil ahead of them.
But with the player away on international duty, the Gunners responded by "man-marking" his father in a bid to prevent the Red Devils from being able to table an improved bid.
The tactic worked, as they landed their man in a club-record 42.5m deal from Real Madrid.
Law told Goal: The chairman then got news that Manchester United were going to try and cut across the deal. So Ivan called me and asked me to man mark Ozil's father and business advisor in Munich.
"I had to sit from 10am to 10pm in the bar at the Four Seasons taking calls from the contract team with questions about this clause and that clause. They eventually drafted everything and sent it over for Ozil to sign.
Of course, this was all happening while Ozil was with the German national team so our access to him was a bit limited. But, we got it done."
