Whilst it may have taken a few weeks for performances to click into gear, it now seems like Arsenal have refound their rhythm under Mikel Arteta that led them on such a whirlwind title charge last season.
Admittedly, it was never bound to be seamless when welcoming in such big additions – Declan Rice, for example, was viewed by the Spaniard as an integral cog in the bright future he foresaw – however they still remain unbeaten across all competitions, saving their finest performance for the Champions League as they blew away PSV Eindhoven.
To showcase their progress, when facing the Dutch outfit twice last term in the Europa League, they would win by just one goal at home, and actually lost when travelling to their place.
Things are looking much brighter, and already the former West Ham United captain is beginning to prove his worth after that club-record-shattering £105m move. Teammate Gabriel Jesus even noted: "He’s helped a lot. He’s a little bit different to Jorginho and Thomas Partey, all have their qualities and they can all play and help the team.
"Dec between the three is the youngest but he comes to help and he’s doing an amazing job, he helps a lot on the pitch with and without the ball. I think it’s not easy when you first come here and you play straight away but he is doing very well and I am very happy with him".
With the fine foundation the England international has brought to their engine room, sure to benefit all those within the squad due to his selfless play style and immeasurable quality, few would have welcomed his arrival more than Martin Odegaard.
After all, the 24-year-old thrived last season ahead of Thomas Partey, so to swap the Ghanaian out for Rice marked a monster upgrade. It's crazy to think that, despite growing to become their captain and a creative leader too, he was once written off by a pundit with no foresight into the future Arteta was building.
How much did Arsenal pay for Martin Odegaard?
The Norwegian playmaker had been touted for a permanent move to north London for many months given the loan spell he had enjoyed previously, in which he starred on occasion but lacked consistency. Given his youth, that came as no surprise.
It would be a deal that came to fruition in the summer of 2021, with Edu and his manager spearheading a vast window of recruitment by also welcoming Ben White for £50m, and Aaron Ramsdale for £24m.
However, some understandably questioned the fees thrown about at them, with the goalkeeper in particular drawing scorn due to his back-to-back relegations recently suffered with two different clubs – talkSPORT's Jamie O'Hara notably quipping that the Gunners were assembling a "B-team" with those new arrivals.
Despite that, Arteta would not let outsiders detract from his project, and he saw the £30m expended for Odegaard as a shrewd piece of business for the man hailed as 'the next Messi' upon first joining Real Madrid.
Unsurprisingly, he failed to live up to such impossible billing, but he has since instead into a reliable maestro for the Emirates outfit, improving with each passing year as he remains one of their most integral figures.
The expectation is that any success earned in the coming years will be largely spearheaded by the 53-cap international, who continues to prove the doubters wrong.
What was said about Odegaard following his move to Arsenal?
Having scored just one Premier League goal across the six-month loan he would first endure in north London, understandably his move drew questions.
After all, it did mark a lofty fee for someone so unproven, although few trusted the vision.
These figures would unsurprisingly increase the following year, as he enjoyed a full campaign of consistent play time in his new home, scoring seven and assisting four in the league.
However, these figures all pail in comparison to last term, where his offensive proved integral in their surprise title push which fell short late on. Scoring 15 times in the Premier League, he would add eight assists to this top-scoring figure in an effort to earn the praise that writer James Wokabi handed him: "Odegaard is currently the best player in the EPL".
His manager actually credits much of the evolution of their side to Odegaard's willingness to stay for the journey: "He is our captain and a really important player for us and a player who has developed, evolved and been on this journey with us together now for a few years.
"He's been instrumental in everything that we've done and building the culture that we wanted and recruiting the profile and the players with the right specificity to play the way we want to play and obviously then, the level that he has performed at has been in a really consistent way."
So, given all these fine figures and glowing testimony, it is almost laughable to read what Paul Merson claimed during the summer in which he made his permanent move. Writing for the Daily Star, he penned the following ludicrousy: 'They could be bottom of the league and I don’t think the board are going to hang around with Arteta for long if he goes on a bad run. But what are they doing signing Odegaard?
'If Odegaard really wanted to be at Arsenal he would have signed at the end of his loan. But he didn’t want to join them. He wanted to go back to Real Madrid. In days gone by that would have been it. Arsenal would have said – sorry, you’ve had your chance. Next! He didn’t exactly pull up any trees on loan did he? He only scored two goals!
'I think it’s a mistake. I think it’s another lazy signing. No other Premier League team was going for him."
It's fair to say that these words have since been made to look extremely foolish.
How is Martin Odegaard playing now?
To further emphasise the blunder Merson made, the current form of the wizard – who has only just signed a new long-term contract – must be outlined.
After all, he already boasts two league strikes after five games, as he also stroked in a powerful fourth during their midweek clash with PSV.
Not only this, but within the Premier League his 7.42 average rating makes him the fourth-best within Arteta's squad, buoyed by his 3.2 shots and one key pass per game, via Sofascore.
The trickster can spearhead a press, create from deep or score the goals himself. He is the perfect Arsenal captain for their modern-day revolution, and they are lucky to have snagged him when they did.
Elsewhere, Merson is once again left with egg on his face with regard to predicting the future success of a new signing.