Are Arsenal in Danger of Getting Left Behind in the Premier League Title Race?

For more than a decade, Arsenal fans have been predisposed to feeling envious about their rivals because of all the Premier League titles, glamorous signings and overall greater sense of direction and ambition. 

But that feeling must be even more painful and acute this summer.

Glance around the Premier League, and Arsenal will see most of these rivals enjoying intense and exciting new relationships.

Across the capital, Chelsea are enamoured with new manager Antonio Conte, a collector of titles and so impressive with Italy at Euro 2016, who has already brought greater organisation, discipline and a certain N’Golo Kante to the club since taking the reins earlier in July.  

In the red half of Manchester, serial winner Jose Mourinho has been emboldened by the arrivals of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan and a burning desire to restore his reputation. Meanwhile, at Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, winner of the last three Bundesliga titles, has brought his coaching philosophy and a raft of new signings to the Etihad Stadium.

Even Liverpool are intrigued to see what Jurgen Klopp, still a relative newcomer to the Premier League, can achieve in what will be his first full season in charge at Anfield.

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All these clubs share the same sense of excitement and the hope new leadership can deliver them success in 2016/17. 

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, once a fresh face and innovative force himself in the league, is preparing for his 21st season at the club.

And Gunners fans now know exactly what to expect: some impressive wins, possibly a few months at the summit of the table, a slump when it matters most and then a timely rally to safeguard yet another top-four finish.

This has been the pattern of many seasons over the last decade, and so far, there has been nothing to suggest it won’t happen all over again.

Arsenal are trapped in a cycle of mediocrity and next season are in danger of being left behind in the title race.

In contrast to last summer, Arsenal have made outfield signings. Granit Xhaka arrived from Borussia Monchengladbach in May. But Wenger has since made typically low-risk additions such as Takuma Asano from Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Rob Holding from Bolton Wanderers.

Xhaka is an impressive signing, a technically gifted and graceful player capable of livening up Arsenal’s midfield, but he is not nearly enough. The Gunners need more.

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The vacuum at the heart of the Arsenal attack is a festering problem. A club of the north London outfit’s stature and ambition should not simply be making do; they need a reliable and prolific goalscorer.

Olivier Giroud remains an enigma, able to boast a record of 82 goals in 188 games at Arsenal and good enough to help take France to the final of Euro 2016.

But all too often, he fails to deliver, too stiff, slow and profligate. And last season, when it mattered from January to May, he went 15 Premier League games without scoring a goal.

There have been times when Giroud does a passable impression of a player who could lead Arsenal to the Premier League title, but the truth is that persevering with him would be an act of extreme and unwarranted generosity from Wenger.

This is Arsenal. There has to be a better option than Giroud.

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For several years, that option tantalisingly appeared to be the Argentinian striker Gonzalo Higuain, who was often linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium. But that was scuppered on Tuesday, when he instead he travelled the length of Italy to move from Napoli to Juventus. 

It cost the Bianconeri around £75 million, the third-biggest transfer fee in history, to get their man, an amount that remains anathema to Wenger. But this is now the market.

Wenger knows there is a problem up front. His pursuit of Jamie Vardy earlier in the summer proves that. But the Leicester City striker turned him down.

Maybe Vardy was a unique situation, keen to stay and enjoy Leicester’s fairytale for at least another season, but Wenger should be concerned he failed to sign a player who was famously playing for Fleetwood Town only four years ago.

The search goes on, and according to BBC Sport, Olympique Lyonnais recently rejected a bid from Arsenal for striker Alexandre Lacazette.

If the Gunners are to compete for the title, they have to find someone.

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Wenger's stable of attacking midfielders, including Alexis Sanchez, Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil, is too good to see its work continue to flounder in the penalty area.

Though they finished as runners-up, Arsenal, with 65 goals, were the lowest-scoring team in the top four last season, and just three or four more goals could have transformed their campaign.

At the back, the injury Per Mertesacker suffered, which will keep him out for five months, per Dominic King for MailOnline, makes the Arsenal defence look vulnerable. Laurent Koscielny will return late to pre-season after his Euro 2016 exploits with France. Reinforcements are likely needed in defence as well. 

On the eve of a new season, there is a flurry of new faces and an overwhelming sense of renewal around the Premier League. But the task at Arsenal is rather different: to prove the same manager won’t simply produce the same results as he has in the last 12 years.