They haven’t had the opportunity to line-up next to each other too often in the last four years so the sight of Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere playing slick football together in the 4-1 win over Crystal Palace was a treat for the Emirates crowd.

The two midfielders put on a 22-minute masterclass in intricate attacking play as Arsenal romped to a four-goal advantage in the first half, including a lovely combination that helped Alex Lacazette net the Gunners fourth goal.

“I’ve said before that he [Ozil] understands football so well, and that’s what makes him one of the best,” Wilshere told Arsenal.com after the game.

“He knows when to play it to you, what side to pass to, and everything he does is quality. He makes it easy. I really enjoyed that little spell in the first half.”

While question marks hang over Ozil’s future at the Emirates – the World Cup winner is six months away from being a free agent – Wilshere is expected to sign a new deal at the Emirates in the coming days and weeks. More comings and goings are expected before the transfer window closes with Alexis Sanchez likely to follow Theo Walcott and Francis Coquelin out the door.

Despite the personnel changes Wilshere thinks Arsenal have enough quality to put right a very poor start to 2018.

“It’s difficult when people like Theo and Francis leave – they’re big characters in the dressing room and I’ve known them for a long time. We’re going to miss them and wish them all the best. But as a team and as a club we need to move on.

“Whoever comes in, whoever leaves, we’re strong enough to deal with it as we have in the past. We need to put in performances like we did today and start climbing up the table.”

He also agreed that securing three points today was a good marker for the coming weeks.

“Yeah, I think so, and that’s what we can do. We can do our talking on the pitch. As I said, we haven’t been good enough – we have to accept that and hopefully now we have that result we can really push on.”