Arsenal have begun their next round of renovations on the Emirates Stadium, starting by removing the artwork around the ground.

On Monday, one Arsenal fan on Reddit and another on Twitter spotted that the club are currently working on taking down the exterior artwork at the Emirates Stadium.

This has been a long time coming, with supporters often complaining that the original faded designs needed at least a new coat of paint, if not replacing entirely.

But any fans hoping to see the new designs will need to be patient. Andrew Allen reports that though the exterior artwork will be stripped during the current World Cup break, replacement designs are still being finalised. They won’t be installed until January.

The new artwork is part of a number of upgrades Arsenal are making to the stadium this year.

As regular match-goers will already be aware, the big screens were replaced over the summer, and the turnstiles have been upgraded, as well as new beer stations being installed in the Upper Tier. Work on the roof is ongoing as well.

There’s also talk of a new sound system for the ground, but Allen writes that he isn’t sure about the timeline for that.

One thing we won’t be getting is external screens in place of the old banners, with the club ruling out that option due to council restrictions.

It’s certainly nice to see the ground getting an update while the team performs so well on the pitch. Arsenal fans will be able to feel proud of their home ground on the inside and out if things go to plan.

The new exterior artwork design remains a mystery, for the time being, so we’ll have to check it out when it arrives in January.