Arsene Wenger inherited the best defence in Europe, an extremely reliable goalkeeper and a superstar forward in Dennis Bergkamp when he became Arsenal manager in 1996. He made four key signings – Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars and Nicolas Anelka – and the Gunners romped to the title in his first full season. If only the job facing Unai Emery were that easy. Wenger finally hung up his elongated puffer coat this summer after 22 years at the helm, and the squad he bequeathed Emery was a total mess. The rebuilding task is colossal, so how much can realistically be expected of the Gunners in 2018/19?

Emery did inherit a superstar forward in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and some intriguing creative talent in Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. But defensively Arsenal have been a shambles for years, so the Spaniard does not have the luxury of taking on a team with a strong and settled spine. Arsenal only won one league game on the road since the turn of the year, finishing the campaign with a worse away record than Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Southampton. The task facing Emery was clear – to instil mental fortitude, belief and toughness in the existing troops and supplement them with hard battling newcomers in order to make them a lot less brittle – but difficult to pull off in a mere few weeks of pre-season manoeuvring.

It is also important to mention that the Premier League is a lot more competitive nowadays. Back in Wenger’s heyday, it was a two-horsed race between Arsenal and Man Utd. Chelsea changed all that when Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003 and started firing £50 notes out of his Russian tank at his rivals. Man City copied the model in 2008 when oil-rich Emiratis took over, and those two have spent the past decade throwing money around like a pair of drunken sailors. All of a sudden everything clicked into place for Tottenham a couple of years ago and they retain an extremely strong starting 11, while Liverpool have been splashing the cash under Jurgen Klopp of late. The big two became the big three and then the big four, but now it is an established big six, and Arsenal are very much considered the sixth team of the bunch.

A glance at the odds for the 2018/19 season speaks volumes: as you can see Man City are way out in front, followed by Liverpool and Man Utd, with Chelsea and Spurs well ahead of the Gunners too. Arsenal finished fifth in 2016/17 and sixth last season, and Emery faces a colossal job in simply trying to break back into the top four, let alone win the title. If he could deliver Champions League football once more, Arsenal would be able to spend like Liverpool have been this summer, but the odds are against him. Yet it is not an impossible task.

Firstly, the Gunners have enjoyed a pretty successful transfer window. Gone is Wenger’s dictatorial approach – which typically saw him dither for weeks and then sign a bunch of attacking midfielders close to the deadline – and Emery has worked alongside Sven Mislintat, Raul Sanllehi and Ivan Gazidis to identify interesting targets and plug gaping holes in the squad. Gooners have long been crying out for a solid holding midfielder – ever since Gilberto Silva left a decade ago, in fact – and they may just have found the right man this summer. Lucas Torreira is highly rated by his former coaches and he impressed while charging around the pitch for Uruguay at the World Cup this summer.

They have brought in two new and experienced defenders, a new goalkeeper to compete with the increasingly wobbly Petr Cech and a promising young midfielder. They also wrapped up their transfer business early, allowing Emery and the squad to enjoy a long pre-season together, giving them time to adapt to his philosophy of hard pressing and possession football. That stands in stark contrast to a couple of their rivals. Chelsea’s preparations for the new campaign have been shambolic, and Maurizio Sarri has not had long to get to grips with the role after replacing Antonio Conte. Much of his time has been spent trying to convince disgruntled star players not to leave – some of these talks have been more successful than others – and they have not strengthened to the extent they usually do. That is despite finishing fifth last season, and Arsenal might feel like they could leapfrog the Blues.

Then there is the curious case of Spurs, the quietest team in the league this summer when it comes to transfers. They have a strong and settled squad, but they may be left to rue inactivity in the market. Arsenal were hamstrung by the crippling cost of moving to a new stadium, and now it is time for their bitter rivals to experience that pain. Many of their World Cup stars will be jaded after a busy summer, and they could endure a slow start to the season. It is a sign of the times that Arsenal had so few players shining at the World Cup, but the one silver lining is that the troops are fresh and raring to go ahead of the new campaign. It is now two years since Arsenal finished above Tottenham, and if Emery could return them to their traditional position of local supremacy, he would endear himself to millions. It is unrealistic to expect Arsenal to finish above champions Man City and an extremely ambitious Liverpool side. But Man Utd are a bit of a mess right now too, with Jose Mourinho aiming all manner of barbs at his own players, so a few of the big six rivals are looking shaky and there is an opportunity for Arsenal and Emery to capitalise.

In a way, he is fortunate as the expectations are low. In 2016, Arsenal finished second in the table. Had Emery taken over that summer and finished sixth, he would have been branded a failure. Instead he is taking over a team that finished sixth last season and is clearly in need of serious surgery. Arsenal are highly unlikely to finish seventh, given the quality of players in the squad, so Emery should at the very least deliver a sixth place finish – parity with the last campaign – and anything above that is a bonus. Arsenal fans will want to see signs of progression, namely a much greater points tally on the road and increased defensive solidity. But there is also a genuine opportunity for the Gunners to exploit their rivals’ weaknesses and break back into the top four. That would be a great first step in returning the club to its former glories, and we can only hope that Emery’s diligence, passion and determination is enough to deliver it.