Saturday's win over Manchester City shows that Arsenal are in good shape for the new season, according to Per Mertesacker.

Arsene Wenger's side completed their pre-season fixtures with a clinical display in Helsinki where well-taken goals from Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud secured a 3-1 victory against the bookmakers' favourites for the Premier League title.

Mertesacker admits that it feels like a long time since Arsenal kicked off their summer schedule in Indonesia but he believes the hard work completed in Asia and back home has set the Gunners up for a strong start to the campaign.

"That's what we are looking forward to - a good, serious win so everybody sees that we are mentally ready for a long season"

"I think it was a long pre-season but we did well, especially in this game against Man City," Mertesacker told Arsenal Player.

"That was a good finish and I think we're well prepared for the season. We have now international duty which makes it a bit difficult but I think when we come back on Thursday, we will completely focus on Aston Villa.

"That's what we are looking forward to - a good, serious win so everybody sees that we are mentally ready for a long season. We have to focus on every single match as if it's our last game. We will take care about [doing] it."

Mertesacker has put in as much hard graft as anyone in the Arsenal squad this summer, completing 90 minutes against Napoli, Galatasaray and Man City in the space of eight days.

And the Germany defender feels that Saturday's test was the ideal warm-up for the domestic challenges that lie ahead.

"I think both teams knew that both teams have strong starting 11s and a strong squad, and it was a first taste of the Premier League season," he said.

"Everybody knew the other team would be focused, sharp and defend well so I think it was a good warm-up for the season. We think we are well prepared. We have shown that in the whole pre-season and on Saturday."