Arsenal are finally in a position to win the Premier League.
All the talk surrounding the club's potential league success each season has become tiresome for many, as failures to address glaring squad weaknesses have left the club far short of a title-winning squad.
This summer was different. Having appeared to dither once again, Arsenal shot into action to invest heavily towards the latter part of the window. Adding Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez to Granit Xhaka completed a stellar, sensible summer for the Gunners. They did not get lured into the ostentatious investment of their rivals, they were patient and eventually secured some astute signings.
Additional cover in defence was a must for Arsene Wenger. An injury to Per Mertesacker made the worry more severe, but the weaknesses of both Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista can leave Laurent Koscielny with too much to do, particularly when exposed to a fast-transitioning team. Shkodran Mustafi is a World Cup winning central defender who has taken to the Premier League as comfortably as any player has done in recent times. The need for a centre-back was not as desperate as corners of the media made it seem, but Mustafi should be considered one of the best signings of this summer.
Before Mustafi, Granit Xhaka arrived. The raw, hard-shooting, harder-tackling midfielder is a talent. Although Francis Coquelin has demonstrated his ability to break up the play, Arsenal's failure to sign a rounded, deep-lying midfielder over the previous few seasons has been their greatest downfall. Xhaka will accumulate cards, as any defensive midfielder does, but his ability on the ball, to start attacks from deep, far outweighs any disciplinary issues that will surface.
The less expected signing of this summer was Lucas Perez. A versatile forward, with pace and an ability to score from any angle, Lucas did not fulfil the Higuain-dreamers' or Sturridge-hopers' wishes. Instead of signing a forward who naturally can only play as a nine, Wenger's addition of Lucas gives him another chess piece to manipulate his other forwards. Whether wanted from the wing, as a lone striker or playing off of Olivier Giroud, Lucas can adapt.
Adaptation has been a struggle for Arsenal over recent seasons. Either not coping well when they are not dominating possession, failing to make the right team selections or being able to change their style at will, Wenger's side have often been crippled by their own approach.
This summer was the first in the best part of a decade that felt like Arsenal had identified their targets sensibly and addressed the needs of their squad sufficiently. Wenger now has options across his squad, to change formation, patterns of play or personnel, and that makes Arsenal a far greater side than they were before.
When you sprinkle that with the mesmeric quality of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, you have a team that can go all the way in the title battle.