Gunners get midfield duo Arteta and Benayoun to replace Fabregas and Nasri

Arsenal completed a sensational 24 hours of deadline-day dealing by sealing the transfer of Everton’s Mikel Arteta late on Wednesday night.

Arsene Wenger spent �10m to secure the Spanish midfielder on a four-year contract as the Gunners boss dominated the final day of the transfer window.

Wenger also brought in Israel international Yossi Benayoun on a year’s loan from Chelsea, having completed deals for the defensive duo Per Mertesacker and Andre Santos earlier in the day.

And with the South Korea striker Chu-Young Park having finalised his move from Monaco on Tuesday, the Gunners had completed five deals in little over 24 hours for a combined fee of �30m.

However it was the move for Arteta, 29, that was the highlight of the day as Wenger persuaded the Spanish playmaker to leave Goodison Park after some tough negotiations with Everton.

David Moyes was desperate not to lose his No10 who has been at the Merseyside club since 2005, but, unlike the negotiations between the clubs over Phil Jagielka earlier in the month, this time Arsenal did manage to get their man.

Arteta has long been a player admired by Wenger, and he is believed to have identified him as the best replacement for departed skipper Cesc Fabregas.

Arteta also started his career at Barcelona but never made the grade at the Nou Camp and has since played for Real Sociedad and Glasgow Rangers before joining Everton six years ago.

While handing a 29-year-old player a four-year deal goes against Wenger’s usual principles on signing older players, the Gunners boss had clearly decided that his young squad had to be bolstered by experienced signings in this window.

Mertesacker, 26, has won 75 caps for Germany, while Park, also 26, is the captain of South Korea and a veteran of two World Cup campaigns.

Brazil international Santos is 28 and has played for leading clubs in Brazil before spending two years with Turkish champions Fenerbahce.

Meanwhile Benayoun is 31, and while he has only joined on loan for a season, his presence will help soften the blow of losing the creative influence of both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.

With the signings of Gervinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Carl Jenkinson and Joel Campbell made earlier in the summer, Wenger has brought in a total of nine new faces to the Emirates, although Campbell has immediately been loaned to French club Lorient for the season

However as well as Nasri, Fabregas and Gael Clichy there have been a number of other departures, and they included the striker Nicklas Bendtner on deadline day.

The Denmark international has joined Sunderland on a season-long loan, while 20-year-old midfielder Henri Lansbury, who spent last season at Norwich City, has returned for another year in the Championship on loan, this time across London at West Ham.

Armand Traore joined QPR on Tuesday, while Emmanuel Eboue also left for Galatasaray last month and Denilson returned to Brazil to play for Sao Paulo on loan.