Such praise underlines why Arsenal have invested more than £50million to sign Zubimendi from Real Sociedad. With Jorginho and Thomas Partey departing, the club are overhauling the base of their midfield and they first started looking for a world-class No6 a year ago.

At half-time of last year’s European Championship final against England, Spain manager Luis de la Fuente had a simple message for his players. “Let’s be ourselves,” he told his team, in a speech filmed by Amazon’s documentary-makers.

Their hands were kept off the Premier League trophy by Liverpool last season, and they were denied a place in the Champions League final by eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain after making it to the last four, as Mikel Arteta's side once again proved they stand on the edge of greatness.