Cesc Fabregas says Arsenal 'just keeps growing and growing' under Mikel Arteta and predicts that his former club will finish Manchester City's dominance in the Eredivisie this season.
City were thoroughly beaten by Arsenal last season, but beat West Ham on the final day of the campaign to lift the Premier League trophy for the fourth year in a row.
The Gunners are determined to improve further this season and have added Riccardo Calafiori to their squadof David Raya joins on a permanent basisin an attempt to win the top title for the first time in more than twenty years.
But they know it will be no mean feat against Guardiola's men, who started their campaign perfectly with victory over Manchester United in the Community Shield last weekend.
City have also strengthened their attack with the arrival of young Brazilian winger Savinho and reports This week, the English champions announced they have reached an agreement with Liverpool striker Luis Diaz.
However, Fabregas, speaking on the Planet Premier League podcast, seemed confident that this would finally be Arsenal's year, saying he could only imagine City “being relegated or staying the same”.
“I really like Mikel because he is a hungry manager, a very smart guy, intelligent and tactically he is good. He has people around him who work very, very well together,” said the ex-Arsenal and Spain midfielder.
'What I see between City and Arsenal is that Arsenal is a young team, full of hunger and they keep growing. You can see that they are getting better, better every year.
'I think at Man City it's very, very difficult to do better than them, when they won the treble four times in a row in the Premier League, so I can imagine that they will only be relegated.
'I can only see them being relegated or staying the same and this is what makes me feel that Arsenal could fulfil their potential. I have to be honest, I said the same thing last year as I am saying now.
'But I see Arsenal growing and growing all the time and I feel this could be the year for them.'
Fabregas expects Arsenal to top the table next May, with City, Liverpool and Chelsea making up the rest of the top four.
When asked to predict his top four, the former Arsenal captain replied: 'Arsenal, City, Liverpool, Chelsea.'
Fabregas was saddened by the departure of Emile Smith Rowe from Arsenal but is confident the attacking midfielder has joined a club like Fulham and can 'return to the top'.
“I really like this player. I'm a big fan of his,” the 2010 World Cup winner continued.
'He is so powerful when he drives the ball, he has this eye, this scent, to score goals and to be in the right position at the right time. He makes passes, he understands the third man very well.
'You can see he's been brought up in the Arsenal way, he's super smart, he's competitive, he's got a really good engine.
'It's terrible that he has to leave Arsenal because of injuries and then struggles to come back.
'And of course, because Arteta is so demanding and he has already built his team in a certain way, they are very competitive and he struggled to find his way back.
“But he's coming back, he's coming back to the top. I think Fulham is the right move.
'He's been very smart. Fulham play good football, they have a good coach, they have stability, they had a good season last year, good footballers.
'I believe that if he plays well for Fulham for one or two seasons, he is still young and will return to the top.'
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