Arsenal handed Premier League title boost as double blow for rivals confirmed

The Club World Cup is not a tournament Arsenal have needed to pay much attention to whatsoever.Even manager Mikel Arteta premised that had the Gunners been involved in it, it might’ve been more of a hindrance because of the scale of his side’s fitness concerns come the end of the Premier League season.

"We would love to be part of that certainly, but with the way the squad is at the moment, with the numbers that we have, that would put so much stress again on the squad,” he said. "It’s not a choice, we are not in it, but we have to plan the squad that we're going to have to have available if we want to win these competitions, and we certainly have to evolve.”

Both Chelsea and Manchester City have been involved in the competition, and perhaps this goes some way to explaining their rush to do high-profile deals this early in the window. That, though, has not stopped Liverpool and, of course, Arsenal from also working to bring big players in as soon as possible.

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The benefit both the aforementioned pair will have in the title race next season is that they’re not involved in the Club World Cup. Players are entitled to three weeks holiday at a minimum unless they forgo those benefits, meaning the earlier now eliminated Man City will have players back for pre-season, which will be toward the end of July.

For context, the Gunners’ pre-season training kicks off the week of July 7, giving them over a month of preparation before the first Premier League match of the season at Old Trafford. Having their holidays and subsequently their pre-season training sooner is a big boost and luxury City do not have.

Furthermore, City’s earlier elimination will perhaps adjust their financial expectations beyond what has already come in. They would have been expected to progress further than this and were perhaps planning with that in mind.

Arsenal meanwhile have known their budget from the off, with the only unknown being both who they might sell and for how much, in addition to the final price agreed for their more expensive targets this summer.