Arsenal have confirmed award-winning groundsman Paul Burgess is leaving the club this week for Real Madrid.

"I wasn't looking to leave Arsenal," Burgess told arsenal.com, "but I've always said that one day I would like to work for one of the big teams on the continent. I just think the timing is right. We've made the move to Emirates now, and proved that we can maintain, and even improve the standard, from the pitch we had at Highbury.

"I had a great time at Arsenal, I'm proud of what I've done here, and I think that I've also left a legacy on the whole of the Premier League. The lighting system that we introduced is used by most other teams over here now as well, and I think if you judge the standard of pitches in the Premier League across the board, they are much better than five years ago.

"I would like to thank everyone at Arsenal, particularly Arsène Wenger for all of his support, and I'll miss life at the Club.

"I've got an exciting challenge ahead of me, but I can assure Arsenal fans that the Emirates pitch is in very safe hands under Paul Ashcroft and his team."