The signing of Ebereechi Eze this week felt like a perfect moment for Arsenal. The fact that he was torn away under the nose of Spurs, for whom he would have been a takeover, was only the icing on top.
The arrival of Eze, which was completed on Friday, was about more than just staring at a bitter local rivals. It seemed like the last part of the puzzle that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta slowly compiled, because he took over from the Emirates in December 2019.
It felt like the completion of something. After a successful summer transfer window, which also saw the long-awaited conquest of a center in Viktor Gyokeres and the purchase of the generally coveted Spain midfielder Martin Zubimendi, the arrival of a wonderful attacking talent as Eze seemed that, the message is finally, Arsenal is ready.
But there is a darker consequence, for Arteta, for all that optimism and all that excitement and all that expectation. And the result is that there is no more room for apologies and no longer more appetite for stories about hard lacquer.
Arteta has done well with Arsenal since he took over. He has taken the club away from the purgatory of the later years of the rule of Arsene Wenger and the loss of direction and identity that followed the fall of Wenger. He led the club back in the light.
But after three consecutive years of completing second place in the Premier League and five years since Arteta won his only trophy, the FA Cup won in 2020, it is now or never for the Arsenal manager. This is the season in which he has to take a step forward. This is the season in which he has to win a trophy.
There was a time when almost men still felt much better for Arsenal than what had gone earlier, but that time has now passed. The pain of the decline of Wenger, and what follows is a distant memory. Now it's time for Arteta to deliver.
The club cannot be accused of not supporting him in any way. The projected signing of £ 67.5 million of Eze will take the editions of Arsenal on players' components under Arteta to more than £ 900 million. With a big margin, it is the most current manager in the game since last won a big trophy.
Because Arteta took over the Arsenal boss, Manchester City is the only club that has spent more, but in the same period Pep Guardiola won the Champions League, four Premier League titles, a FA Cup and two league cups. If Arteta does not become a member of the party this season, he will come under intense pressure and go.
He has done excellent work so far, but the lack of a trophy since that lonely FA Cup triumph has been a striking omission in his resume five years ago. So far, progress was sufficient. This season, with all the elements on the field, there must be finite proof of that progress.
Ideally, that means a first Premier League title for Arsenal. Their team is the third most expensive group of players in world football. The last step is that Arteta gets the best out of it. It was built and built and he has been patient, but this season represents his biggest test.
This is the season in which he has to deliver reality or face that if he cannot lead Arsenal to a trophy this time, with a wealth in playing resources that are jealous of most managers in the game, it may never happen.
Winning the Premier League, or the Champions League, is within reach, but if those trophies slip away again, the absolute minimum requirement for Arteta is the Carabao Cup or the FA Cup. There must be something that shows that Arsenal has regained a winning mentality.
Despite all the improvements that Arteta has formed, Arsenal is still vulnerable to the accusation, widely leveled to them that they have a soft mentality when it comes to crunch moments. They have to banish that. They have to win something that can act as a catalyst for larger trophies.
Winning the competition is a tough question, as it is always, but there are some signs that title holders Liverpool may need a season to assimilate their series of new signing sessions before they can come back to their best. Manchester City seems to be past their worst of their uncertainties last season, but perhaps, perhaps, quite the winning machine they ever were.
The chance is there. Arteta must grab it. I never believed that Arsenal has 'bottled' their title activities in the past. They have just been defeated by better teams with deeper squadrons. This year there are no apologies.