Manchester City aim to maintain their Premier League dominance next season, but Arsenal is eager to disrupt the Blues’ impressive streak of four consecutive titles.
Mikel Arteta anticipates a surge in transfer activity in the Premier League following a quiet summer, issuing a challenge to Manchester City from their closest title contenders.
Arsenal has finished as runners-up to City for the past two seasons, closely contesting Pep Guardiola’s squad each time. The Gunners hope that the third attempt will be the charm, aiming to secure their first Premier League title in two decades. Meanwhile, City strives to extend their historic run to five titles in a row, in what might be Guardiola’s swan song at the Etihad.
Discussing the upcoming season, Arteta provided insights into the slow pace of transfers so far, aligning his views with those of City’s chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak.
Al Mubarak noted that new Premier League regulations have resulted in fewer high-profile transfers this summer. So far, only clubs facing Profit and Sustainability Regulation deadlines have been active in the market.
“With the new regulations, there are certain things we have to respect and be conscious of,” Arteta shared with ESPN. “And then obviously the Euros and Copa América are slowing everything down. Hopefully, now it is going to pick up a little bit.”
Arteta also issued a stern warning to Arsenal’s competitors, emphasizing their proactive approach in the market to bolster the squad that finished just two points shy of City last season.
“There are things that we have to improve, that’s for sure, and we are going to try to. But the market is tricky. We have been very aggressive, we are very determined and we have a clear idea of what we want to do. It will come down to finding the right agreements at the right time,” Arteta continued.
Forecasting that the title winner in 2025 will likely need over 90 points again, Arteta emphasized the importance of learning from last season’s disappointment. “I don’t want to get over it,” he stated. “I am really satisfied with the way the team is performing, the way the players are evolving, what the team transmits, the momentum we have as a football club.
“But we need that pain and that hunger to achieve what we want to achieve because the competition is unbelievable and we are going to need everybody feeling that way to achieve it.
“When you are analytical and you gather all the stats and everything the team has done over the past 11 months in the Premier League, we should have won it. That’s what the stats say. The reality is that we didn’t, so there is something that is there that we haven’t managed as well as Man City or other clubs in the past.
“At the end, we are going to have to be that good that our worst version is going to have to be much better than the best version of the opponent. This is what we are going to try to do and in order to do that we are going to have to dominate a lot of things that are going to be difficult to identify with your eyes when you watch a football match. I’ll leave it there.”
Arteta’s remarks set the stage for a thrilling season, as Arsenal aims to dethrone City and reclaim their place at the pinnacle of English football.
