The winds of change sweeping through the Premier League have yet to reach Arsenal. While Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City stabilise themselves following managerial upheaval and Tottenham seek to retain their star player, all is calm at the Emirates.

In one sense, that serenity is readily welcome. Unlike previous summers, the Gunners have not had to endure constant speculation and uncertainty surrounding the future of their biggest names. That cloud of confusion has shifted across north London to Spurs as Real Madrid pursue Gareth Bale.

And while Jose Mourinho, David Moyes and Manuel Pellegrini acclimatise to their new surroundings, Arsene Wenger can plot Arsenal’s path with the strength and experience acquired in becoming the League’s elder statesman.

But there is a fine line between stability and stagnation. Where a team stands is often determined by success but although eight years have passed since Arsenal’s last trophy, the mitigation in funding a new stadium and Wenger’s remarkable work in the first half of his tenure have bought him time.

This summer, armed with more than £70million to spend, was to be a defining one as Wenger shattered his prudent image and mixed it with the big spenders to catapult Arsenal into title contention.

A deal to sign Gonzalo Higuain never materialised. The move to sign Luis Suarez became entangled in contractual red tape before the player’s apparent change of heart. The fans — and indeed the players — are still waiting.

Arteta himself looks set to miss the first six weeks of the season with a thigh injury, which puts the depth of Arsenal’s squad under the spotlight. However, everyone at Arsenal is aiming high.

“The club is very ambitious for this year,” midfielder Mikel Arteta told Standard Sport. “Everyone in the club is happy — nobody wants to leave. We saw a few players released with the intention of bringing some new players in and I think that’s what we are trying to do to give us a better chance of winning the title.

“If someone can bring the gap much closer with the top teams, he will be more than welcome. Whether that is a big name or a smaller name who surprises us, I don’t mind. But I think we will sign someone.

“When you have new faces and there is new competition, it is like fresh air around the team. And for the fans as well. They have been waiting for something big to happen. You talk to people and you can tell they are waiting for something big.”

Something needs to change after spending the last few years on the periphery of the title race. Arsenal recovered from a poor start last season to galvanise impressively as they amassed 26 points from their final 10 matches to overhaul a seven-point deficit behind Tottenham and finish fourth on the final day of the season with victory at Newcastle. A Champions League play-off was assured and their top-four record maintained, but Arsenal used to be about more than this.

“I came to Arsenal to win things,” said Arteta. “I am desperate and everyone feels the same. We really want to win but we need to be realistic. Sometimes it comes down to small details and there can only be one winner. There are going to be four or five top teams very frustrated at the end of May next season. That’s a fact.

“There is no clear favourite for the title this year. You never know — someone could respond from the start and boom, away they go. Three years ago, Chelsea started by beating everybody five or six nil but at the end of November they went downhill and they lost the title to Manchester United. It is a long season and any team can beat anyone else. That is what is most exciting about this league.

“We think we can win the title this season. If we don’t believe that, we won’t do it. It is going to be the most difficult Premier League by far because we are talking about four or five teams who could win it. It is hard to think of any other league in Europe with the same scenario. I think we have got the ability to do it but we have to find the consistency through the year to earn the chance to get to April in contention and give it a go.”

Arsenal begin their campaign at home to Aston Villa tomorrow and if they are to mount any sustained challenge for the title, a fast start is essential. The fixture list has helped in this respect; the Gunners face only two teams who finished in last season’s top 10 — Spurs and Swansea — before November.

“It was tough to get back from our difficult start last season,” said Arteta, speaking at a Splinter Cell Blacklist photoshoot. “This year it is different. We have got confidence from what we did at the end of last season and when you get that habit of winning every week, you get that confidence naturally. During pre-season we have been looking at the mistakes that cost us points. If you look at the stats when we did things the right way, we won a lot of points. We were the second best team after January in the Premier League.

“After Manchester City, we had the best defensive record in the League [37 goals conceded to City’s 34]. So we have a lot of positives to take but when we dropped points because of mistakes, it makes it hard to win the title. We need to realise that they cannot happen again.”

Mikel Arteta brought to life the new gameplay modes of Splinter Cell Blacklist at a photoshoot to promote the new video game from Ubisoft, which is out on Friday, August 23 on Xbox, PS3, PC and Wii U. For more information go to www.splintercell.ubi.com.