Record-breaker Mesut Ozil turned down a bigger offer from Paris Saint-Germain to sign for Arsenal.
Germany international Ozil has become the Gunners' biggest signing, completing a £42million move on a five-year deal worth around £140,000-a-week.
The midfielder had a bigger offer from big-spending French champions PSG but decided to join the Gunners after lengthy talks with Wenger over the telephone in the past few days.
Wenger spelled out Arsenal's ambition to win silverware and for Ozil to be part of his football vision, as well as telling him that he would be his "dream" signing.
The Frenchman tried to sign Ozil before he joined Real Madrid three years ago, has remained a big fan and was keen to sign him once he was alerted about the 24-year-old's availability, as revealed by Mirror Sport on August 21.
Arsenal were also keen on Real Madrid duo Karim Benzema and Angel Di Maria.
But while Wenger was keen on a striker, his favourite target was always Ozil.
"I am thrilled to be joining a club of the stature of Arsenal and am looking forward to playing in the Premier League," he said. "It will be great for my own personal development as a player and I am particularly looking forward to working with Arsene Wenger.
"From our negotiations it is clear the club has huge ambition and I look forward to being part of an exciting future."
The Arsenal manager was delighted to have landed a player of such a high calibre.
Speaking to the club's official website, www.arsenal.com, Wenger said: "We are extremely pleased to have signed Mesut Ozil.
"He is a great player, with proven quality at both club and international level. We have watched and admired him for some time as he has all the attributes I look for in an Arsenal player.
"I have said throughout the summer that we have been working hard to bring in top quality players to this football club. This has involved many, many people across the club and I have always had the full support of the club in making decisions on the football side.
"Mesut is a top quality footballer who will be a fantastic addition to our talented squad. We are all looking forward to him joining up with us after his international matches with Germany and working with us as an Arsenal player."
Elsewhere, Mirror Sport can reveal Arsenal were left furious after being kept waiting by Chelsea on a season-long loan deal for Demba Ba - only for Jose Mourinho to pull the plug at the last minute.
Mourinho strung the Gunners along on Ba until it was too late to sign another striker, which leaves Wenger desperately short of cover for Olivier Giroud up front.
The Chelsea boss clearly sees Arsenal as genuine title rivals and did not want to do business with them, even though he was happy to loan Victor Moses to Liverpool earlier in the day.
Wenger did also sign Palermo keeper Emiliano Viviano on a season-long loan with a view to a permanent deal.
The 27-year-old will provide back-up for Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski.
"Viviano is a player that we have rated for some time and we are very pleased to have signed him on loan," said Wenger. "He's experienced and has proved himself at a high level, and provides us with excellent cover to our existing goalkeepers."
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