PETR CECH believes the loan move of Jack Wilshere shows how serious Arsenal are about competing for the title.
The Gunners haven’t won the Premier League since the 2003/04 campaign, but they are looking to bring the trophy back to north London this season after a strong start sees them second in the table.
Arsene Wenger recruited strongly in the summer with Granit Xhaka, Lucas Perez and Shkodran Mustafi the biggest names to join.
As a result he also had to ship some players out with Wilshere being one of them.
Wilshere admitted he wanted to play regular first-team football, but with Wenger unable to guarantee him a starting spot, Wilshere joined Bournemouth on a season long-loan on deadline day.
Arsenal predicted line-up to face Sunderland
Fri, October 28, 2016Click through the gallery for a look at Arsenal's predicted line-up to face Sunderland
Click through the gallery for a look at Arsenal's predicted line-up to face Sunderland
And Cech believes the fact Arsenal are having to let talented players like Wilshere go, it shows they have a team worthy of competing for silverware.
“He is a fantastic player and, in normal circumstances, you would keep him,” Cech told The Sun.
“But in order for him to get his fitness and confidence back — and to get some games under his belt — I think this is the best solution.
“Yet even without Jack, you can see the manager still has plenty of options, that shows we are ready to fight for the title.
“It feels like the balance is right and we look to be in good shape.
“We’ve worked hard to make sure we’re ready to compete and, so far this season, we’ve been proving it on the pitch.”
Three points in Arsenal’s trip to Sunderland today will send the Gunners top of the table for a short time at least, depending on other results.