Arsenal midfielder Andrei Arshavin is clearly a man of high standards.
Arsenal midfielder Andrei Arshavin is clearly a man of high standards.
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"I will try and show that I am better this season," he said as he reflected on the start of his first full Premier League campaign with the Gunners.
That vow will provoke a few raised eyebrows in north London, not least among the sizeable percentage of Arsenal fans for whom Arshavin is already a bona fide terrace hero.
The Russian gave the lie to the old adage that foreign signings need at least a year to acclimatise to the unique demands of English football with his dazzling displays last season.
He may just have made 15 appearances following his January transfer window move from Zenit St Petersburg, but that was enough time to notch six goals and seven assists and deliver the season's stand-out individual performance in becoming the first visiting player to score four goals at Anfield since 1946.
Off the field Arshavin's popularity is already high enough to come second in a supporters' player of the year poll and see shirts bearing his name and number fly out of Arsenal's club shop quicker even than those of Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie.
They are the sort of achievements any player would be proud of after a full season; the fact that Arshavin was able to chalk them up in four short months explains why Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was content to break the habit of a lifetime and sign an established superstar, rather than a tyro with promise.
Yet there is clearly still more to come from Arshavin.
By his own admission, he was not fully fit when he arrived in London, having not played for several weeks following the end of the Russian season.
That neutered him in his early appearances for his new club but there is no doubt the 28-year-old will be in peak condition when Arsenal open their league account against Everton on August 15.
Arshavin returned for pre-season training a week earlier than the club's other internationals to work on his conditioning and also asked to be included in their annual curtain-raiser against Barnet.
So while his fellow A-listers Fabregas, van Persie and Gael Clichy were resting their weary limbs, Arshavin was to be found pounding the turf at one of English football's tiniest outposts, scoring his side's opening goal in a 2-2 draw.
"For me it's very important to get a good pre-season," he added. "That is why I came to England one week earlier than the other internationals. I hope that will help me."
Whether being able to field a fully-firing Arshavin from the start of the season will be enough to turn Arsenal from also-rans into genuine title contenders, or even win a first trophy since 2005, is another matter.
The man himself has warned that it will take a monumental collective effort to achieve that goal - "one player can create one moment but he cannot create a result on his own," Arshavin suggested - but, either way, there is surely little doubt that the Russian will be one of the season's star turns.
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