When asked about who will win the Premier League next season many of us will say Chelsea or Manchester City. The two are the favourites with the bookmakers but there's no reason why the gap can't be closed by the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal.

Focusing on the Gunners in the 13/14 Premier League season, they led for half the season but no one believed they would sustain it. They didn't and, quite often, fall apart dramatically in big games, losing 6-3 to City and 6-0 to Chelsea in recent seasons.

They did manage to win the FA Cup nonetheless, and seemed to improve in the league, however when compared to their 13/14 season they finished fourth with 79 points whereas last season the Arsene Wenger's side finished 3rd with 75 points - not exactly an improvement, is it?

[ffc-gal cat="arsenal" no="5"]

As the season went on, Arsenal's form did improve, and in the second half of the campaign Arsenal were in title winning form. This is something the Gunners have done before and Arsene Wenger often believes that his side can always improve the following season.

But it isn't enough and despite some big spending on the likes of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez in recent years, Arsenal still remain short in four key positions down the spine of their team.

Every year it is not addressed and Arsenal never challenge as a result, the positions in question are goalkeeper, centre-back, defensive midfield and striker.

Whilst it looks likely Wenger will sign a top goalkeeper in Petr Cech, the position he arguably needs to strengthen the most is up top, the man who gets the goals.

It is often said you are only as good as your strikers and in Arsenal's case this could not be more true. Olivier Giroud is a good striker, but he is not in that world class category. He gets 14-16 goals in a full Premier League season; good, but not good enough.

Arsenal need a dynamic striker who can get 20-25 goals-plus a season. A front man with a bit more mobility than Giroud would help, too.

Giroud is good for Arsenal in terms of how he can play with his back to goal, but there are strikers out there that can do that but threaten in behind too something, which Giroud struggles to do.

The extra goals could add 10-15 points per season, which would be enough to take Arsenal to the title challenging level.

A few strikers that are perfect for this are Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Daily Mail), Porto's Jackson Martinez (The Independent) and even Real Madrid's Karim Benzema (The Express).

Aubameyang has already be linked to the Gunners this summer. He is tall, has a good physical presence and is lightening quick. He can link the play and is good with the ball at his feet, he can be deployed wide or up-front too.

His goalscoring record in the Bundesliga is only marginally better than Giroud's Premier League record, but Giroud doesn't play on the wing like Aubameyang has, so in team that creates as many chances as Arsenal do Aubameyang could well get 20-25 goals a season as a striker.

He will of course present some sort of risk, as he is fairly inexperienced, but in Arsenal's position he is probably their best bet in my view.

It looks likely Jackson Martinez will join Atletico Madrid, but Karim Benzema from Madrid could be an option. Benzema is a more experienced option who has played for a top side for a number of years now.

Benzema regularly gets 15-goals-plus a season in a side that has Cristiano Ronaldo is top drawer, and Benzema for a larger fee than Aubameyang could be a fantastic signing as he will get the goals Giroud does not.

If Arsenal can sign a top striker, with the players they already have creating chances they will really start to close that gap at the top of the Premier League.

[ad_pod id='ricco' align='center']