One of last season’s most intriguing storylines was the battle between Tottenham and Arsenal for fourth place in the Premier League.
Tottenham eventually edged Arsenal by two points and secured Champions League qualification over their North London rivals.
Under Conte and Arteta, both teams are on the up, and neither show any signs of slowing down next season.
Assuming Chelsea and Manchester United don’t excel in what will be transitional seasons for them next year, Arsenal and Tottenham will once again rival each other for a place at Europe’s top table.
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Both teams have made a fast start in the transfer market, signaling their intent to move up a level. Spurs have signed Ivan Perisic and Yves Bissouma and are expected to sign Jedd Spence.
That’s a defensive midfielder and two wing backs, and it’s looking ominously like an ideal Conte team is about to take shape. Once his teams get going, they are incredibly difficult to stop and they will be a match for anyone next season.
Arsenal meanwhile, are on the way towards assembling the first true ‘Mikel Arteta’ team. They are expected to announce the recruitment of Porto attacking midfielder Fabio Viera, and are linked with a number of proven players.
The Gunners are heavily linked with Gabriel Jesus and Youri Tielemans. If they pull those deals off, the team will be transformed. Arteta plays a style similar to Manchester City, and so signing Jesus makes perfect sense. Arsenal struggled to find offensive cohesion last season, and the Brazilian could knit things together nicely.
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Tielemans would be an excellent addition to an Arsenal midfield that couldn’t quite do enough offensively last season. Working in tandem with Partey and Odegaard, Tielamans would open up new possibilities for Arteta.
Expect the fight for fourth to go all the way until the end next year, with both teams primed to be good now rather than in the future.
