The A Listers ensured Watford were gone in 45 minutes but behind them Arsene Wenger already sees Granit Xhaka as the new Emmanuel Petit.
Strong in the tackle, intelligent with his passing, Xhaka may have cost Arsenal £30million but as his side swept hosts Watford away 3-1 , Gunners fans could already see where their money has gone.
“He is a guy who plays naturally behind the ball,” said Wenger, “He is a bit similar to Petit in the way he plays football.
“He likes to sit, give good long balls and be available with the centre-backs.
“I believe he has a good mixture of short and long balls, in midfield it is important for us to sometimes stretch the opposition defenders.
“We have a game that is based on shorter passes than other teams so sometimes you have to have a player who can kick the longer ball which gives us a chance to get some oxygen and some space.”
Valencia defender Skhodran Mustafi and Deportivo La Coruna forward Lucas Perez will increase the feel-good factor when they sign up early this week for a combined £52million.
It was last winter, however, during a run of just one defeat in 15 games for Xhaka’s former club Borussia Monchengladbach, that Wenger decided he’d seen enough to make the 24-year-old the long-term heartbeat of the Arsenal team.
“We tried in December last year,” said the Frenchman.
“We saw he has a good engine, good stature, he is good in the air and has a good balance in his game, he has a good short ball and a good long ball.
“He is 24 years old, he has already experience abroad and that is always a problem and is more reassuring when a player has already played abroad somewhere.
“He was captain at his age at Monchengladbach, that is not a small club so he has leadership qualities.”
Indeed, Xhaka’s strong start to the season comes after his penalty miss in Switzerland’s defeat to Poland which saw them crash out of the Euros.
Although he went on to issue a public apology, he also vowed not to back down from taking any more spot-kicks in the future.
Wenger added: “He has a big focus and I think he is mentally strong.”
With Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini having left the club and Jack Wilshere seemingly never more than a few weeks away from an injury, Wenger suggested he now has a few less sleepless nights over his options in the centre of the park.
More importantly, with the likes of 24-year-old Mohamed Elneny and 25-year-olds Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin, the picture in the centre of the park is perhaps not as bleak as some Arsenal fans would have you believe.
In pictures — Watford 1-3 Arsenal:
“We we lost three midfielders last year, Arteta, Rosicky and Flamini,” said Wenger. “We had many injuries and we have some uncertainties about longer term injuries.
“We think that if you project a bit for a longer future, we have players close to 30, close to 20 and at the mid-range of 24, 25 we did not have many and I think it is important.”
If Manchester United are seen as title challengers with a spine of De Gea, Bailly, Pogba, Mkhitaryan and Zlatan, then are Arsenal - with Cech, Mustafi, Xhaka, Ozil and Sanchez that far behind?
“You know the Premier League,” said Wenger. “Everybody is strong this season.
“We have just to focus on the performances and try and improve.”
Arsenal will only get better after a deserved win turned up the heat on new Watford boss Walter Mazzari, who has now lost two of his opening three, drawn the other and been dumped out of the League Cup by third-tier Gillingham.
Santi Cazorla, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil scored the goals that had this contest wrapped up by half time.
Watford rallied in the second half as the Gunners’ dropped down a gear and substitute Roberto Pereyra snatched a 57th-minute consolation on his debut. Referee Kevin Friend will not look back on this game as one of his best.
Overall, however, Arsenal were just too good.