Mertesacker craves success

Per Mertesacker is confident Arsenal will finally bury the ghost of eight years without any silverware for the Premier League club come next season. The Gunners finished last term in fine form as they pipped north London rivals Tottenham to the final Champions League qualifying spot on the back of a 10-game unbeaten run. However, Arsene Wenger's side has had to continually carry the burden of not winning any trophies, despite the talent at the Frenchman's disposal in years gone-by. Mertesacker, who arrived at the Emirates in 2011 from Werder Bremen, is determined to make a success of his move to the English top-flight outfit. "We must be well prepared both mentally and physically to do it straight from the off," the Germany international said in The Observer. "It's very hard to be consistent and that's the main reason for Manchester City and Manchester United being successful in the last two years. They have shown for the whole season that they are consistent and that will be our main focus for the next season. "We haven't sold any players yet so we are coming from a good base. We're at a good level and no-one is leaving. "Maybe someone will come in and strengthen our squad, so it's a better position to be in than last summer when we lost two important players (Robin van Persie and Alex Song). "I would say consistency is the most important thing. If we can do that, then we should be challenging for trophies and titles." He added: "It's a big year for us. We've got the World Cup at the end of it but the focus has to be on Arsenal because we want to win things. "We had such a strong finish at the end of last season, especially in the final 10 games, and that is the target for the whole season."