Mesut Ozil lived up to his billing as the king of the assists against Stoke but another of Arsenal’s summer signings is making a more understated yet equally important contribution to their promising start.

Mathieu Flamini’s return to the Gunners was ridiculed in many quarters as the move of a desperate manager enduring ongoing frustration in the summer transfer market.

Arsene Wenger needed to bolster his squad and yet the frustrated pursuit of several players, including Bayern Munich’s defensive midfielder Luiz Gustavo, led Flamini’s return to escalate from an informal use of the club’s training facilities to a three-year deal.

Wenger later admitted he had no intention of re-signing Flamini and only a change in circumstances brought about what no looks like a no-brainer of a deal, especially given the 29-year-old Frenchman was without a club after leaving AC Milan.

“I was missing the Premier League and I had unfinished business with the club,” Flamini told Standard Sport. “I had great memories here so, of course, it was a very special moment for me to come back. Here I feel like I never left. The team has an amazing spirit. I feel good on the pitch and outside the players are very close to each other and I think that makes a difference.

“I was not planning to sign. Milan offered me a two-year contract extension. I didn’t agree on it because I wanted a minimum of three years. I am 29 years old, I have three good years in front of me.

“So I came here. It was an important decision for me to decide where I wanted to go. It could have been Italy, Germany or England but I came to Arsenal to work with the fitness coach Tony Colbert. I did that for about a month and day after day I felt better and better and it happened. I am happy I came back. I am happy it is going well and I feel good in the team.

“The manager played a big role in my decision because he was the one who took me here when I was in France. He was the one who introduced me to the top level, to the Premier League and the Champions League so, of course, to have the possibility to work again with him, it was important. And also it is important to still have him at the club because the players are behind him, everyone believes in his vision of the game and in the game against Stoke, it proved he was right.”

Aaron Ramsey continued his fine start to the season in yesterday’s 3-1 win, while Ozil’s arrival has enhanced Arsenal’s inventiveness in the final third but Flamini is the player who has helped instil a more regimented balance to the team’s play.

It was evident from the moment he entered the fray on his debut against Tottenham that Flamini was ready to inject organisation and discipline into Arsenal’s play. No longer can they be accused of lacking leadership — Flamini has barked his orders as if he had never been away and that influence did not go unnoticed by Sky television, which gave him the man-of-the-match award against Stoke despite plenty of other prominent candidates.

“I am just trying to be myself on and off the pitch,” he said. “The group is great, the spirit is great. Of course, communication on the pitch is important and you have to work for each other and make an effort for your partner because afterwards everything goes well.

“Like yesterday, it was not easy in the last 20 minutes — we were tired, we had to play Champions League. We had three games in one week but once again, when it went 1-1, we found the solution with two other goals and stayed strong defensively.

“Team spirit makes the difference because the Premier League is not a sprint, it is a marathon. This season is going to be long, we are going to need everyone.”

Flamini’s first spell at the club coincided with their last trophy. The Gunners won two honours during his four-year stay — although Flamini was not in the matchday squad for the 2005 FA Cup Final success or the Community Shield win at the beginning of that season — and he believes Arsenal are finally in position to end that drought. “It is not easy to look at that because eight years without winning anything is not easy for anyone, for the fans, for the players, for the club or the coach,” he said. “But the quality is here. Maybe it was missing just a few things.

“This year it was important that nobody left and then we got new players with a lot of quality and what is most important is the team spirit.

“We are talking about defending together from the players at the front to the back because the first defender is a striker.

“Olivier [Giroud], Mesut — everyone on the pitch is doing their job very well and like today we know we are strong defensively and that makes a difference because we know with the quality in the team, we will create opportunities and we will score.”