Another failure! United foiled in late swoop for Ozil

 Arsenal fans waited, Arsene Wenger fretted but in the end the north London club secured arguably the biggest Premier League transfer coup of the summer by signing Real Madrid schemer Mesut Ozil. Would have been a blow then if Manchester United swooped in and scuppered the deal at the eleventh hour! According to the Mirror, the Red Devils, under pressure to make a big-name signing, made a last-grasp attempt to steal the German international away from Wenger's grasp. After failing to land Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera, United were said to have made a number of frantic calls to the Spanish capital to check on the availability of Ozil, now rendered a surplus to requirements after Gareth Bale made the move to the Bernabeu. But it was far too late. Ozil had agreed terms with Wenger, and after turning down a lucrative offer from Paris Saint-Germain, the 24-year-old was not about to snub Arsenal for one of its biggest rivals.

http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/onthemove/id/13052?cc=3888 

Talking of Manchester United failures, the Daily Mail is reporting that the Premier League champions will be back for Herrera and Everton defender Leighton Baines when the January transfer window opens. United manager David Moyes catalogued a large list of missed targets this summer - only bringing in Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini and young defender Guillermo Varela - but is determined that two of those targets will be United players next year. Herrera, who United failed to secure with a £26 million bid last week, could be tempted to make the move to England in January but reports suggest Everton, just like they were this transfer window, are keen to keep Baines on Merseyside, with club officials set open talks of a new £75,000-a-week contract.

And just to finish this Arsenal-United, success-failure transfer wrap, the Daily Mail is claiming that Arsenal were left fuming after their London rivals, Chelsea, blocked their advances to bring Demba Ba to the Emirates on loan. Ba has fallen down the pecking under Jose Mourinho and Wenger saw the Senegal international as the perfect back-up to lone forward Olivier Giroud. Seems Wenger was wrong. Despite believing the deal was all but secured (there were reports the club had lined-up a medical for Ba), the Frenchman was left exasperated when Chelsea officials pulled the plug.

And one final bit of transfer window wash-up, The Telegraph is reporting that Hull City boss Steve Bruce is furious with West Brom for Shane Long's failure to sign-on for the Tigers. Bruce thought he had his man - Long undergoing his medical, agreeing to terms and ready to sign on the dotted line - when, 70 minutes before the window slammed shut, West Brom vetoed the move. The reason? West Bom had failed to re-sign Romelu Lukaku on loan and couldn't afford the loss of Long. Scant consolation for Bruce.