Arsenal Premier League 2015-16 preview: Marquee striker the missing piece in Arsene Wenger title hopes

Last season

Premier League: 2nd

FA Cup: Winners

League Cup: third round

Top Scorer: Alexis Sanchez (25)

Summer's work

Having signed the likes of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez in the last two summer windows, Arsene Wenger was expected to go to the bank to sign a marquee striker and a back-up for Francis Coquelin to finally challenge Chelsea for the Premier League title.

However, and even though club director Lord Harris has said the side have £200m ($309m) to spend, Wenger has been quiet in the mercato so far, only signing Petr Cech from Chelsea.

Reporters in Spain have linked him with a £45m club record move for Real Madrid star Karim Benzema, but he has let a large number of players depart on loan, including Wojciech Szczesny, Carl Jenkinson, Yaya Sanogo, Chuba Apkom, Isaac Hayden, Daniel Crowley and Jon Toral.

Meanwhile, Lukas Podolski left the club to join Galatasaray while Abou Diaby and Ryo Myaichi were released.

Manager – Arsene Wenger

The French gaffer came under scrutiny among some fans last season after Champions League humiliation against Monaco.

However, he regained his popularity after an impressive spurt in the final part of the season, culminating with the FA Cup crown and a subsequent win in the Community Shield.

Wenger faces his 20th campaign in North London full of faith and with renewed hopes of leading arsenal to their first league title since 2004.

Key player – Alexis Sanchez

Having been overshadowed by the likes of Lionel Messi and Neymar at Barcelona, the Chile international has found the perfect environment to show all his abilities at the Emirates Stadium.

Sanchez wanted to be the main man of a team and Arsenal needed a leader to return them their glorious years – Mesut Ozil has the talent but lacks the charisma to do that.

The former Barcelona star wasted wasted little time adapting to the Premier League, scoring 25 goals and providing 12 assists in his debut campaign. He is expected to miss the start of the season following his participation on the Copa America but once he returns to full fitness he will be looking to bag even more.

Expectations

The end of last season and the pre-season win over Chelsea are being seen as a big statement ahead of the new campaign. Supporters have suggested that Wenger has his best squad since The Invincibles outfit who went unbeaten in 2003-04.

However, the Gunners are still two players away from a truly title-winning side. Arsenal could well battle Chelsea all the way, but most believe that Wenger needs to bring in a world class striker to finally nail that long elusive top spot.

IBT prediction – 2^nd

Cech makes Arsenal the biggest contenders to fight Chelsea for the Premier League title but they still need a couple of players – a top striker and a holding midfielder – to beat them.