Cesc Fabregas feels Arsenal fans have reasons to feel excited ahead of the coming season after being impressed by the "fantastic" work that has been done at the club over the summer.
The former Gunners captain has recently completed his latest move to Italian Serie B side Como, where he has become part-owner of the club after signing a two-year deal. But Fabregas still keeps one eye on his old side and has been enthused by the way Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu have gone about their business.
Arsenal have brought in several big players in the off-season, including ex-Manchester City duo Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, along with midfielder Fabio Vieira from Porto, Brazilian prospect Marquinhos from Sao Paolo and back-up goalkeeper Matt Turner from New England.
Arteta has already confirmed the club are hoping to make more signings before the transfer deadline at the end of August and Fabregas feels this season could be a big step for the Gunners under his leadership.
“I think Mikel [Arteta] is doing a fantastic job, I think Edu [Gaspar] is doing a fantastic job,” the Spaniard told Sky Sports. "Not only for what they're doing, because when we talk about football people, Edu is a football man and he's had the patience and he knows exactly what it takes sometimes to build a project. You cannot do it in one day or two days.
"The market doesn't allow you to get the right player, sometimes you are too young to compete as happened at Arsenal during one or two years but I think they are mature, the younger players are not so young anymore.
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"I see a different phase, they strengthened the team well in certain areas that they were struggling and I'm really looking forward to the season because it's really exciting."
Arteta has also appointed a new captain in Martin Odegaard after offloading a number of players, including former stand-in skipper Alexandre Lacazette, who took over the armband after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was stripped of his duties before his move to Barcelona.
Arsenal have also welcomed back defender William Saliba from Marseille, further boosting Arteta's squad ahead of the new campaign. His side kick-off the new Premier League season on Friday in the curtain raiser away at Crystal Palace.
The Gunners have been in rampant form during pre-season, scoring 10 goals in their previous two matches - a 4-0 drubbing of London rivals Chelsea, followed by a 6-0 hammering of Sevilla. The latter result has even made Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp take notice as Arteta bids to finally get Arsenal back in the Champions League spots, having fallen so agonisingly short last season.
Yet pundit Roy Keane still feels Arsenal will not finish in the top four this season.
"I think last season was their big opportunity [to return to the Champions League]. They blew it, they got into a great position, four, five games to go in the season you think they’re in pole position and they blew it. They couldn’t get over the line," Keane told Sky Bet.
"They were poor, the Newcastle game was a real blow to them where they never turned up. The manager was quite critical of them after the game, some of the players were senior ones. So you wouldn’t be putting any bets on Arsenal to finish top four next season because the other teams.
" Manchester United will get better you’d of thought. Tottenham will be stronger, so you can’t see it for Arsenal, big set-back. The way they finished last season was a big setback. Arsenal should be competing for a top-four so to come up short and finish behind Tottenham was a hammer blow.
"There’s still a softness to the group. Okay, they’re young and sometimes you need experienced lads to get you over the line in the big games. But there’s a softness to them, even the two centre-halves, they’re not convincing."
