Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says Arsenal's summer signings have given the squad extra momentum as they prepare for the 2014/15 season.
Alexis Sanchez, Mathieu Debuchy, David Ospina and Calum Chambers all joined the club the club this summer while Joel Campbell has returned from his loan spell at Olympiacos to begin his first campaign with the senior side.
Oxlade-Chamberlain's focus has been on regaining full match fitness but he's also been trying to impress the new arrivals.
"There's always talk about transfers but I don't get involved in any of it," said the England international.
"That's the same for the rest of the players. It feels like a normal pre-season to me which is running, hard work and horrible pain! We train hard and leave it to the manager and the board to make signings.
"It's a big game in its own right and one we're approaching really seriously"
"But it's really exciting to see players like Alexis come in. It brings a good lift to the squad and I can feel it myself. You want to get to know them and try and impress them. You want to gel with them as quickly as possible.
"We haven't even seen Mesut Ozil yet and our German World Cup winners. When they come back, that will give us another lift. It's exciting times at the club."
Arsenal take on Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday and Oxlade-Chamberlain is hoping to register an early victory against one of the Gunners' title rivals.
"Playing against Man City, it's going to be a really tough game, we played against them last year in Finland and that was a good test for us," he said.
"[The Community Shield] is definitely something we want to go and win. We're going into the game hoping to win and it is a good chance to look at ourselves before the start of the season.
"It's a big game in its own right and one we're approaching really seriously."
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