Arsenal are at a crossroads. There is so much still to play for this season – in the Premier League and the Champions League, the two most important competitions – but they are reaching a defining summer under Mikel Arteta.

While Newcastle United fans scrambled for trains, tickets and hotels around London for next month’s League Cup final through blissfully blurry vision, wide-eyed Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was leading his side on to an Emirates flight to Dubai for a much-needed warm weather winter training break.

Now we have to look forward – first of all, I think this is going to be a painful one – and when we’re in Dubai, recharge and go again because we still have a lot to play