Petit: Arsenal will beat Manchester City to win the Premier League; I don't understand the Blues' business model

The 53-year-old former French international Petit once again connected with GFFN to talk about the pattern of this season. The former world champion talked about his old club Arsenal, Chelsea and the situation in Ligue 1.

This article is a summary of Petit's remarks, and the source of the news is social media.

https://www.getfootballnewsfrance.com/2024/exclusive-emmanuel-petit-arsenal-can-win-the-premier-league-this-season/

Talking about Arsenal and Manchester City's championship battle

Can Arsenal win the Premier League title? Yes, of course. I think it's time to beat Manchester City.

I think the Gunners have improved a lot in the last two seasons, and they have been very good in the transfer market - they are also trying to bring in new players, and the transfer window will close at the end of the month, so I think there will be more players joining the club.

However, when you look at Manchester City, they are still the benchmark in the Premier League. They are still an unbeatable team.

But you can see that the gap between Manchester City and Arsenal has narrowed a lot in the last two seasons. I am pretty sure that when you look ahead to Arsenal, the team is young and they play the same beautiful football on the pitch, which makes me sure that it will be difficult for Manchester City to retain the title this season.

Two seasons ago, no one would have said that Arsenal would compete for the Premier League title, but I am sure that it will be difficult for Manchester City to win the title this season.

On Declan Rice

There is no doubt that Declan Rice is one of the best players in the world, and I am a big fan of Declan, even when he was playing for West Ham United.

I was very happy when Arsenal bought Rice a season ago. He is a natural leader. And he has improved a lot since coming to the Gunners, he can play in different positions - in addition, his winning mentality, as well as his personality and character, leadership in the dressing room and on the pitch are very good.

Yes, for me, Declan Rice is one of the best midfielders in modern football. He still has a lot of room for improvement, but for me, I am very happy with him.

I mean, when he signed for Arsenal, no one would have predicted what his first season would be like, and he performed very well. He has been playing like he has at the club for the past ten years, and you can see that he fits perfectly into Arteta's system.

For me, he is the captain of this team. There are not many players in the team who can wear the captain's armband, but he always gives his all on the pitch and he is one of the leaders of Arsenal.  

Talking about Chelsea's dilemma

I can understand spending a lot of money on young players, but when you have 40 or 45 players in your first-team squad, I don't understand what the management is doing, If I were the coach of the club, I would wonder what is going on - why am I managing so many players.

Chelsea's main problem is stability, both on the bench and on the pitch. Every transfer window, they change players - they buy, they sell - sometimes you don't know what they want to do.

For me, I am not happy that Gallagher was sold because of financial rules. To be honest, sometimes I don't understand, I don't understand the sporting vision of Chelsea today.

Again, if I were a Chelsea player, even if I signed a contract with them, there would be no guarantee that I would still be with the team after 6 months, and I might be forced to sell.

I think this Chelsea team currently lacks experience, especially in important positions of the team, they bought so many young players, they have so many players, sometimes I feel that the Clear Lake Group is trying to do what they do in American sports.

This is not American sports, this is European football. You need to keep consistency and stability in the team. When you buy so many players, it brings confusion to the players' minds. The fact that you don't have experienced big names to protect the young players brings trouble. I don't understand.  

I don't know why they spend so much money every transfer window and then are forced to sell players because of financial rules. Sometimes I get confused when I read about the transfer window because Chelsea is always interested in signing players. They are always there. Stability has been Chelsea's main problem since Mr. Abramovich left.  

About Ligue 1

I think Paris Saint-Germain will retain the title because they have no competitors in the French league.

I think Monaco - I saw their performance against Barcelona - if they avoid injuries, they will finish second like they did last season.

Marseille, I saw what they did in the transfer market, I think they will also finish in the top four, and so will Lille. I think this is my prediction for the top four in the table.