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AFP Sport takes a closer look at the questions that will determine whether the Unai Emery team can reverse the situation:
What to expect:
Arsenal's status as a huge alien to win the Premier League title reflects until they have fallen in recent years, but the most relevant question is whether they lost more ground in the fight to end their exile in the Champions League.
Finishing in the top four has turned out well beyond Emery in his first season at Emirates Stadium, after a fatal immersion that took them to fifth place a point behind his rival Tottenham.
A humiliating 4-1 defeat against Chelsea in the Europa League final erased their last hope of reaching the Champions League and set off a summer of recriminations.
It's been 15 years since Arsenal won its last Premier League win and angry fans have taken the stand to protest against their owner. Stan Kroenke calls for "better leadership", threatening to create a toxic atmosphere in the Emirates unless the Gunners do not start quickly.
Kroenke's son, Josh, a prominent figure in Arsenal's boardroom, insists he will again try to win honors. The £ 72 million contract from the selection of Lille winger Nicolas Pepe was a welcome statement of intent.
But with Aaron Ramsey on Juventus and a defense that still flees, Emery still has some work to do.
New faces:
Without the lure of action of the Champions League to attract big names in North London, Emery had gone through a difficult period in the transfer market until the Gunners persuaded Lille to accept their payment in installments. offer for Pepe who would have spread the cost of the transaction over five years.
The Ivorian star Pepe has the tempo and predatory instinct necessary to form a formidable offensive trio with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.
The most intriguing signature of Emery before this move was Dani Ceballos, the Spanish midfielder who arrived with a loan of the Real Madrid season.
Ceballos, 22, struggled to find a place in Real after being named a future star.
The Gunners also sent 18-year-old Brazilian striker Gabriel Martinelli for £ 6 million, an initiative that bears the imprint of Arsenal's new technical director, Edu, who played for the club at the time of the title, the Invincibles.
Key man:
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the top scorer in the Premier League with 22 goals and the Gabon striker will have to retain that prolific form if Arsenal wants to erase the bitter taste of last season's fainting.
The flamboyant personality of Aubameyang and the powerful combination of his predatory rhythm and finals make him one of the few real Arsenal stars.
But despite 31 goals in all competitions, even the 30-year-old is not completely irreproachable, some anonymous parades leaving his partner on strike, Alexandre Lacazette, isolated and persuading Emery to put him sometimes on the flanks.
Aubameyang was even tied to a summer move to Manchester United by the time Emery was ready to sacrifice the former Borussia Dortmund player if Arsenal were able to recover the $ 56 million spent to sign it in January 2018.
For the moment, Aubameyang is still part of Emery's team and making the most of him needs to figure at the top of the list of tasks to be done by the manager.
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