GUNNS ‘N’ Conte: Wenger’s a world-class boss with quality players and Arsenal will be one of our title rivals
ARSENAL v CHELSEA
The Chelsea boss has named the Gunners as one of six teams he believes are capable of lifting the Premier League crown.
As he goes on a revenge mission at Wembley this afternoon, the Italian has said that with the improvement to their squad that they can mount a realistic charge to be crowned champions after a 14-year wait.
He said: “Arsenal is a potential rival this season. I consider them one of the six teams who will be fighting for the title.
“Arsene has put together a very good squad. Last season they were prepared to play the Premier League, Champions League and the FA Cup.
“They haven’t lost any players and now, at this moment, they have bought Alexandre Lacazette as well.
ALEXIS SANCHEZ Scored 30 goals last term, but has just one season left to run on his contract, hence the fear over his future. he stayed at Arsenal. I think they are one of the best teams in the world – and the link between the club and the manager is the right one.
“Wenger is also one of the best coaches in the world, so it’s right for them.
“He has taken a long time to build his squad. He is definitely the right choice for them.”
Conte’s press briefing ahead of this afternoon’s Charity Shield was decidedly low-key.
And he dampened expectations ahead of Chelsea’s title defence this season with another veiled barb about squad strengthening. Asked about winning Serie A with Juventus and Chelsea’s Premier League triumph, the 48-yearold said: “We are talking about two different situations.
“At Juventus, when we won our first title, I think that at the same time we
MESUT OZIL Club record signing – before Lacazette came along. Lovely left foot and exquisite vision, but can go missing. disrupted two or three other teams. After we won, Juventus increased their quality. And other teams dropped theirs, there was a lot of change. Milan sold Zlatan Ibrahimovic (below) and Thiago Silva – they sold their best players. “Juventus got better every season and stayed at the top “In England, if you win the title, the others prepare to fight you with everything they have got. It’s very difficult to repeat a win. “For that reason, I have to work hard to improve our team and squad. It’s normal to be a bit afraid of repeating a title season with a worse one. The same happened to Leicester after winning the title. “And we all know what happened two seasons ago here at Chelsea. For this reason it will be very important to avoid a bad one.”
LAURENT KOSCIELNY In his eighth year as a Gunner, the 31-year-old France star has become a mainstay of Wenger’s defence.