Per Mertesacker is of the belief that Arsenal are looking very strong ahead of the new Premier League season.
Last summer, the Gunners lost Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy and struggled during the first part of the campaign before rallying to finish third in the league.
This off-season, however, things have been slightly different in North London with the arrivals of Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla and German centre-back Mertesacker is extremely positive prior to the new campaign.
"I think we have a better situation than last year," he told the club's official website.
"The team is full of characters, good players and every position [has competition]. So I am looking forward to the season because I think we can show the potential we have in a better way than last year.
"We need good signings and I feel that these players will help us a lot. Giroud is a good striker and I have seen a lot of him in training because he was not out in Asia, so we trained a lot together. He made a good effort and hopefully in the games he will show that as well.
"Santi Cazorla has just signed so we will see him in training and in games in the short term."
