Christmas in September

By Chris Toronyi

We get to open our Christmas present a little early this year - this Saturday against Sunderland. Not a bad way to kick-off the players' return from the interlull.

So excited. Imagine how the players feel seeing him walk through the doors at London Colney.

It's a weird feeling and still hard to digest. We talked the talked this summer and brought in one of the biggest names in football. Everyone knows of him to a degree and many know that he's moved to us. As I've written and spoken about on the Arsenal America Podcast we have signed someone transformational to the Club that still gives me a grin from ear to ear.

He's someone who takes us to the next level of discussion when it comes to talking of the Premier League title and – perhaps I'm stretching a bit - the Champions League too. I'm not going to go on a rant about how he'll change to the formation, bring a new attitude, make everyone around him better. That's a given. He will do all and more.

What I will say is that wherever I have gone with my Arsenal shirt or hat this past week someone has said something to me. At the coffee shop, walking down the street, pick-up footy or even the car dealership this morning. Everyone it seems has an opinion of him and are just as excited as us supporters to see him play.

I took my car in and had my Arsenal cap on and one of the Toyota dealership employees started talking to me about him. We talked for a good five minutes. His touch, his vision, his graceful movement off the ball. Even the non-Arsenal fan knows what a big deal this is to the Club, to us supporters.

So, I sat there waiting for the courtesy van to take me, when all of sudden I hear someone call for "Ozil, Ozil. Your courtesy van is here." Not only have we arrived on the global stage, but even Hollywood Toyota knows it's Christmas in September.

No Arsenal America Podcast this week, but you can listen to last week's show where we had Mark Gonnella, Director of Communications at Arsenal Football Club, talk about the Özil signing. We also welcomed @Matt_Law_SM @TimPayton of the AST and @LittleDutchVA. Please don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and you can also grab the RSS Feed.