Arsene Wenger reportedly swayed Mesut Ozil to join Arsenal from Real Madrid for €50 million.

Paris St Germain are said to have offered the German a more lucrative offer but that was turned down by Ozil.

It is a deal which completely smashes Arsenal's relatively meagre transfer record into smithereens.

But it is an important in other ways that are not readily apparent.

Yes, Arsenal have a phalanx of potential No 10s like Santi Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky and Jack Wilshere.

And Ozil should have the attributes to fit into Arsenal's possession hungry team.

But one forgets that the man who has the most assists in Europe's top five leagues over the last few seasons (and in the Champions League) excelled in a counter-attacking unit which thrived on the pace of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Arsenal have changed subtly over the last 18 months. If anyone has watched their performances against Fulham and Tottenham closely, they have negated the need for an out-and-out defensive midfielder by putting more men behind the ball and defending as a unit.

On one hand that leaves Per Mertesacher and Laurent Koscielny less exposed.

But it also draws the opposition closer and gives the likes of Theo Walcott more space to run into when Arsenal regain possession.

Indeed, a little known fact reveals that the Gunners became more of a counter-attacking force last season. Arsenal scored more goals on the counter-attack than any other team in the Premier League last season with 7, although they kept more possession than every other club.

So far this season, only Arsenal and Aston Villa have scored what has been described as a counter-attacking goal while Arsenal have only kept 53 per cent of position, 7th overall in the Premier League rankings.

The benefit of Ozil is the flexibility he offers in the transition between keeping the ball and making the right passes to make the Gunners devastating on the break.

A perfect example and one that was brought up by occasional Newstalk Sport Sunday commentator Adam Summerton was England v Germany at the 2010 World Cup.

7th Dec - Arsenal v Everton - Ozil v Barry - the rematch #afc #efc #TransferDeadineDay

— Adam Summerton (@adamsummerton) September 2, 2013

Ozil and co were devastating on the break, ripping England's static midfield and defence to shreds. Ozil in particular was instrumental in his breakout tournament.