Can Arsenal win the Premier League next season?

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has stated that the Gunners will not spend big this summer

Arsenal retained their FA Cup crown with a 4-0 final victory over Aston Villa on Saturday at Wembley.

The Gunners now seem to have ended their trophy hoodoo, but the big question is can they build on those successes and win the Premier League next season?

Perennial

The above question seems to have been asked a lot in recent summers. It seems to almost be a perennial question that has been answered by the same two letter answer, no for over a decade.

The Gunners have threatened to mount serious challenges for the Premier League title in recent campaigns, but they have faltered at key moments. In 2013/14 it was the end of the campaign and in 2014/15 it was the beginning.

In recent years Arsenal have just had a propensity to slip-up at key moments and not be able to recover enough to challenge for the title.

Signings

Arsenal will no doubt make signings this summer to strengthen a strong squad, but ever the economist boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that he will not be spending big on players this summer.

The Frenchman is still regarded as one of the greatest Premier League bosses, but the club have fallen behind the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea, because they will not commit the same financial resources to signing new players.

Wenger’s policy on spending money has changed in recent summers, with the likes of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez arriving in the last two summer transfer windows.

The Gunners may not have the bottomless pockets of City or Chelsea, but they are a big club who are by no means poor. They have the financial resources to bring in the players needed to seriously frighten the likes of Chelsea and City.

Which players arrive in north London this summer will shape whether the Gunners can mount a serious challenge, or even win the Premier League next season.

Arsenal cannot fall further behind their top of the table rivals, Chelsea in particular, because they will go out and strengthen their squads. They will not standstill in the transfer market.

Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho has been clever in the transfer market since his return to the club, as last summer’s signings Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas played a major role in the Blues title victory. The Portuguese boss knew exactly what positions he needed to strengthen and he did just that to fantastic effect.

Nearly

Arsenal does have a strong squad already and it does not seem like there are many areas of the pitch in which their team needs heavily improving. However, the Gunners also have a lot of nearly players in their squad as well.

French international striker Olivier Giroud is one of those nearly-men. He is a very good player, but he is not quite a top level striker. He will score goals. However he is not at the same level of a Sergio Aguero or Diego Costa.

The likes of Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema have been linked with moves to Arsenal, but with Wenger revealing that the Gunners will not spend big it seems unlikely they will bring in a prolific striker this summer.

Theo Walcott is another player that is nearly-man. On his day the England international can cause any defence problems, especially with his pace, but he is inconsistent and injuries have hampered his development.

There are doubts about his future at the Emirates, as he has just over a year left on his contract with the Gunners. However, the noises coming out of Arsenal seem to suggest that he will sign a contract extension with the north London club.

If Walcott does sign a new contract and stay fit he could be a very good weapon for Wenger to have in his Gunners armoury next season.

Familiar

It is over a decade since Arsenal have won the Premier League title. The last few seasons have been a familiar story, as everybody connected with the Gunners are so positive that they can challenge for the Premier League at the start of every campaign.

A lot can change between now and the start of the season, but currently Arsene Wenger’s side are odds of 9/2 to become Premier League champions next season.

Whether the Gunners will end that Premier League title draught will depend on what happens in the transfer market at the big teams. Currently it seems that Arsenal fans could be in for another season of challenging for a top four spot and the title may once again prove just out of reach.

Can Arsenal win the Premier League next season?