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With the new season about to start in a few weeks time, Unai Emery has wasted little time in strengthening an Arsenal side that would take field without the leadership of Arsene Wenger, for the first time in over 22 years.
Arsenal are currently in Singapore to take part in the 2018 International Champions Cup. They will be locking horns with Atletico Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea in their preparation to reclaim the lost glory.
Arsenal's steady decline on the football pitch had forced the owners to look in a new direction as the club parted ways with Arsene Wenger, a decision which seemed long overdue for the Arsenal supporters.
Luckily, the board seemed well prepared for this major change, with the appointments of Raul Sanllehi, as the Head of football relations and Sven Mislintat, as the Head of recruitment paving way for the new manager to have an easier time during the transfer window.
In came Stephan Lichtsteiner, Bernd Leno, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi. Majority of these players have been brought in to address Arsenal's shaky backline that conceded a staggering 51 goals last season.
The Gunners start their campaign on August 12 against reigning champions Manchester City at the Emirates, before making a short trip to London rivals Chelsea a week later. If Wenger was still in charge, most supporters would have expected precisely no points from these two fixtures.
However, with an exciting new mentality and freshness of ideas that have come along with Emery's appointment, the fans can at least hope to see a better fighting spirit from the players.
It is an exciting time to be an Arsenal fan, similar to Liverpool's when they appointed Klopp. Emery will hope to choose an electrifying lineup to get the job done. Here's what their strongest team would probably look like:
Defence
Starting from the back, German shot-stopper Leno is expected to be the new no.1, limiting Petr Cech and David Ospina to Cup matches, which might mean that at least one of the two, gets offloaded before the transfer window ends.
Petr Cech might start the season between the sticks at least until Leno adapts to the rigours of the league, as even David de Gea had an error-prone first season with Manchester United when he was thrown straight into the action.
With a long-term injury to Laurent Koscielny, the back four doesn't yet look convincing, even after the arrivals of Sokratis and Lichtsteiner. This might force Emery to try out different combinations in defence, even providing game time to Greek centre-back Mavrapanos, who has impressed all during the pre-season.
Lichtsteiner and Bellerin will be fighting for the right-back spot. At 34, Lichtsteiner still possesses great stamina with an ability to tackle, while he could also be beneficial for Hector Bellerin's development after a disappointing season last term.
Midfield
With Xhaka, Maitland-Niles and Elneny available, Emery will have healthy competition in the midfield area. Torreira seems like a player who should hit the ground running with his hard work, and being a defensive-minded player, he will provide the much-needed protection to the back four.
Torreira has already drawn comparisons with Chelsea's N'Golo Kante, mostly due to his size and stamina, but the high standard set by the recent World Cup winner would be too much of an ask for the newcomer. However, he will certainly add "Steel" to Arsenal's "soft" core and if he is able to emulate Kante, the pain of signing Xhaka instead of Kante for nearly the same price will slowly fade away for an Arsenal Fan.
Ramsey and Ozil will continue to provide assists for the attackers, although they will need to step up and score their fair share of goals when needed.
Attack
There is no surprise in attack after both Aubameyang and Lacazette ended last season strongly. Interestingly, Aubameyang can also play on the left wing, using his speed to run at the opposition defence while Lacazette provides the finishing touch as the centre-forward.
With a complete pre-season under their belts, the trio of Aubameyang, Lacazette and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are expected to fire on all cylinders.
Although Emery might still be looking to add another winger before the end of the transfer period, this team will surely be the dark horses for a top-4 position.
