Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has said he believes as many as nine teams can win the Premier League title next season, although he added that his side has the “right ingredients” to come out on top.
Arsenal have finished second in each of the past three seasons and have strengthened their squad with the arrivals of Martín Zubimendi, Noni Madueke, Christian Nørgaard and Kepa Arrizabalaga for a combined total of over £120 million ($138m).
Further arrivals are expected with Arsenal in advanced talks to sign Viktor Gyökeres from Sporting CP and Cristhian Mosquera from Valencia.
Mikel Arteta is preparing for a hard-fought Premier Leaue title race next season. Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
However, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea have also invested significant sums and when asked whether now was the time for Arsenal to go one step further and win a major prize, Arteta said: “Every year we have to see how things develop but I see the right balance in terms of maturity, experience, youth, hunger and all these ingredients are there.
“The thing is there are another six, seven, eight clubs in the league that have the right ingredients to win and there is only going to be one winner. So we have to focus a lot on the things that we can control, that we can do, to achieve what we want at the end of the season.”
Pushed on whether he felt they had what it takes to win the title, Arteta said: “Yes I do. It is getting more and more competitive each year. The level is increasing. We know that so our demands have to increase as well.
“But we have also been very active in the market. We have to improve the players we already have which is a massive objective after that. And then, set the right fundaments and the right principles in pre-season to get the team ready with the best possible shape and availability to start the season.
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“The only thing that they were talking about at the end of last season and the first day through the door is ‘OK, how are we going to be better? How are we going to do more?’ We know that we are so close now in two big competitions and we just want to make the next step. There are going to be a lot of details and moments that have to go our way. We have to push for that to happen.”
Arteta was speaking in Singapore where Arsenal will play the first match of their preseason tour against AC Milan on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Louis Zecevic-John has signed his first professional contract with Arsenal. The 17-year-old right winger is part of the Arsenal’s under-21 tour of Slovakia.