Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech says the Jack Wilshere's season-long loan move to Bournemouth proves that Gunners are ready to challenge for the title.
The England midfielder left the Emirates on transfer deadline day when he joined Bournemouth on a season-long loan and Cech believes letting a player of Wilshere's quality leave shows just how string the Gunners' squad is.
“He is a fantastic player and, in normal circumstances, you would keep him," the Czech stopper 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."
Arsene Wenger's side go into Saturday's early Premier League clash at Sunderland in second place in the Premier League, level on points with table-toppers Manchester City.
With the side also topping their Champions League group and through to the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup, life is good at the Emirates this season.
And Cech believes after bringing in Granit Xhaka and Shkodran Mustafi this summer, the time is ripe for the Gunners to end their title drought.
"Everyone is talking about when we will end that run — and I do think there has been a major change at Arsenal over the last three years.
“Prior to that, the club had to sell their best players because of paying for the stadium and keeping the financial situation as they wanted. It wasn’t always easy for the manager to strengthen and have the right players.
"But now we can see that the stadium is done and the club has money to spend. We bought Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Xhaka. All big international players, who are ready for the expectations and know how to deal with them.”