MIKEL ARTETA believes there will be up to EIGHT teams challenging Arsenal for the Prem title next season.
The finished TEN points behind champions Liverpool last term - cementing a runners-up spot for the third season on the bounce.
Five years into his North London reign with just one FA Cup triumph to show for it, knows the pressure is on for him to deliver a league title at the Emirates for the first time since Arsene Wenger’s 2004 Invincibles.
But according to the Spaniard, this upcoming campaign will be the toughest yet, anticipating one of the most hotly-contested title races in Prem history.
, Manchester City and made up the top four last season with Newcastle, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest just missing out.
Europa League winners and - who finished 17th and 15th respectively - are set to bounce back after big recruitment drives this summer.
Arteta is confident Arsenal will be in the mix - on course to spend £200m in the transfer window - but explained: “It is getting more and more competitive each year.
“The level is increasing. We know that so our demands have to increase as well.
“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.”
Midfielders Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard, back-up keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga and winger Noni Madueke have all signed up to Arsenal project.
And Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres - as well as Valencia defender Cristhian Mosquera - are both on the verge of joining for a combined £80m.
in time to make his debut during the club’s pre-season tour of Singapore and Hong Kong ahead of Wednesday’s clash with AC Milan before taking on Newcastle on Sunday.
Arsenal have targeted elite match-winners in the market so far, having also fallen short in the Champions League with an agonising semi-final defeat to eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain back in May.
Arteta continued: “The only thing that [the players] were talking about at the end of last season and the first day back 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.
“We have been very active in the market, but we have to improve the players we already have, which is a massive objective.
“And then, set the right fundamentals and the right principles in pre-season to get the team ready with the best possible shape and availability to start the season.”
Zubimendi and Madueke were described as when announced by the club this month, with Gyokeres also in that category of ticking every box and making the difference in big moments.
But Arteta is not keen on this classification, admitting that last season’s struggles with long-term injuries to key players - such as Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz - has opened his eyes to the bigger picture.
He said: “The Tier 1, 2, 3 system, I don’t believe in that much now. I’ll change it.
“The way the game’s evolving, the demands we put in with 70, 75 games per season, we want to build a team, like other clubs already have.
“When you look at the squad and you cannot really identify who is going to play, if you get to that point, that’s what we want.
“Last year, the line-up was: ‘Give me five players who can finish 90 minutes’. We played like this for seven months. We need to get away from that.
“Those restrictions limited our capacity to perform and then have the freshness that we need at the end of the season. Hopefully this season is going to be very different.”
