Arsene Wenger Arsenal: Last Season: 2nd, 73pts W22 D7 L9 F80 A46 Stadium: Highbury (110x73yds) Capacity: 38,500 Year Formed: 1886 Manager: Arsene Wenger Chairman: P. D. Hill-Wood

Lauren

To persuade him to commit to the longer term, Arsenal must convince him he can fulfil his dreams with them. They are doing everything in their power to improve, to catch up with the multi-spending super clubs, to give him the foundations to challenge Europe's finest, but an improvement on last year is now vital.

Robert Pires

Losing players of the calibre of Overmars and Petit has also injured Arsenal's reputation as a club on the up. Losing Nicolas Anelka for an enormous sum was considered a one-off. Selling two more crucial players gives the impression that if you turn up at Highbury with enough dosh you will get your man. Imagine how Wenger must feel!

Still, the Frenchman is keyed up for a more fruitful Champions League campaign at Highbury, although the priority, as usual, is the challenge of deposing the winning machine from Old Trafford: 'There is only one trophy and that is the Premier League," he insists. "In the past three years the gap in the Premiership was one point twice and 18 points the third time so maybe the most realistic gap was not 18 points but one point. I think Manchester United will drop from that level because the competition may be higher. Chelsea, Liverpool, Leeds and maybe Arsenal will be better."

Thierry Henry

Spending £13m on France's Sylvain Wiltord should go some way to bridging the gap. Wenger's transfer market performance has generally been cunning and profitable, and he's a very shrewd judge - especially of his compatriots. If Wiltord can hit it off with Thierry Henry, Arsenal's frontline will be both damaging and prolific.

Much could depend on how Dennis Bergkamp bounces back from a disappointing end to the 1999-2000 campaign. He seemed a broken man after losing the European Championship, as well as everything domestically and the Uefa Cup, on penalties. If Bergkamp is hot then the Gunners could get closer to Manchester United. If not, then they could be kicking themselves for selling two of their best players.

2000 - 2001 SQUAD NUMBERS

1 David Seaman (G)
2 Lee Dixon (D)
3
4 Patrick Vieira (M)
5 Martin Keown (D)
6 Tony Adams (D)
7 Robert Pires (M)
8 Fredrik Ljungberg (M)
9
10 Dennis Bergkamp (F)
11 Sylvain Wiltord (F)
12 Lauren (M)
13 Alex Manninger (G)
14 Thierry Henry (F)
15 Ray Parlour (M)
16 Silvinho (D)
17
18 Gilles Grimandi (D)
19 Stefan Malz (M)
20 Matthew Upson (D)
21
22 Oleg Luzhny (D)
23 Nelson Vivas (D)
24 John Lukic (G)
25 Kanu (F)
26
27
28
29 Jermaine Pennant (M)
30 Paulo Vernazza (M)
31 Stuart Taylor (G)
32 Rhys Weston (D)
33
34 Ashley Cole (D)
35 Graham Barrett (F)
36 Guy Demel (M)

Eric Chukwunyelu (F)
David Grondin (D)
Niccolo Galli (D)
Greg Lincoln (M)
Alberto Mendez (M)
Christopher Wreh (F)

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