But it was typical that the Gunners’ 2-1 victory at Swansea on Saturday came through goals not from Mesut Özil, the most expensive signing in the club’s history by far, but from an 18-year-old and a 22-year-old whom the manager had helped to rebuild after a horrifically broken leg.

“There is no better way than winning,” Wenger said at Swansea’s Liberty Stadium on Saturday evening. “In the first half, we were a bit slow in our combination and passing. After that we found our level. We have substance in the team you know, you saw that in the second half.”

Substance is this manager, this veteran of the field, saying that after almost nine seasons of relative struggle to land a trophy, he feels that the spirit is again rising.

His match winners on Saturday, in terms of scoring the goals, were Serge Gnabry, an 18 year-old-German, and Aaron Ramsey, the Welsh player who came back from a career-threatening injury. The age might be irrelevant. What is paramount is the players’ talents, what Wenger calls their quality. Trusting that quality, and building a team that allows it freedom, is Wenger’s forte.

Gnabry scored the first goal of his senior career after cutting in from his wing, being the first to the ball 10 yards out and finishing it with a cool, composed, angled shot inside the far corner of the net.