Former Manchester United and Liverpool striker Michael Owen has claimed that he is confident that Arsenal will not even finish fourth let alone win the title. Arsenal come into the new season with a lot of positivity after having finally brought their trophy drought to an end by winning the FA Cup. This was the first title in nine years for Arsenal. They have managed build on this positivity by signing players like Alex Sanchez. So far, they have splashed out £ 40 million on two players, while more are expected to come in the next few weeks.

They are heavily linked with Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira, who will be available for around £ 20 million. Signing such experienced players has made Arsenal as one of the favourites for the title. However, former United and Liverpool striker Owen, who has now retired from football, claims that Arsenal will even struggle to finish in the fourth place. The comments by the former England international certainly raise eyebrows, but Owen that Arsenal will struggle to compete with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United.

There will be as much as six teams competing for the top four places, which will provide Champions League football. Owen expects Arsenal to miss out on the top four along with Tottenham. “The signing of Sanchez has made everyone sit up and take note. I really do rate him, he’s a top player and it’s a big step in the right direction. But, in no particular order, my top four for next season would be Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool. If Liverpool are going to progress again, they probably need to get better again. Manchester City won the league, Chelsea have strengthened in a big way,” said the former striker, who won the league title with United.

Louis van Gaal guided Netherlands to the 3rd spot of the 2014 World Cup and he has received praise for his work from supporters and players all over the globe including Michael Owen who recently stepped up and complimented the Dutch manager who will be in charge of Manchester United for the next season.

Owen spoke to the media: “If there were any doubts about Van Gaal’s credentials to become the United manager and given his CV I doubt there ever were they must have been eradicated after that destruction of Spain, a fixture which set the tone for a riveting tournament’’
“Van Gaal’s most eye-catching decision was to substitute goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen for Tim Krul before the quarter-final penalty shoot-out against Costa Rica.

“That encapsulated his single-mindedness but his influence was evident throughout the competition with some of his unorthodox but successful selections. It must have been reassuring for United fans who are desperate for the club to return to their natural home in the Champions League.”

Replacing David Moyes with Louis van Gaal was the first step that the staff members of Manchester United decided to do in order to help the club restore themselves from the disastrous campaign they went through in the past season.

Some signings have been made in Old Trafford as Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera are the players that will be joining the Premier League club and help them in their journey of getting back into the Champions League with Louis van Gaal being the main man in charge of making it all happen.

Mats Hummels, Arturo Vidal, Edinson Cavani and Angel Di Maria are some of the other summer targets that Van Gaal is hoping to sign but the Dutch manager will have to be ready to break the bank in order to sign all of those sought out talents before any other club does.