Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil is expecting an even greater challenge than ever in this season’s Premier League after the Manchester giants extensive strengthening in the summer window.

Ozil reserved particular praise for Manchester City, who, under new manager Pep Guardiola, have brought in several of the Arsenal playmaker’s fellow German internationals. Ilkay Gundogan arrived from Borussia Dortmund before Leroy Sane’s £37million arrival earlier this month.

Across the city Manchester United have broken the world transfer record to add Paul Pogba to their summer recruits, a selection of expensive purchases that also includes Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

It is business that has impressed Ozil, who expects both sides to offer a sizeable challenge for Arsenal, last season’s runners-up.

“Manchester United and Manchester City are among the biggest clubs in England and will be very strong in the coming season,” he told Spox.

“I am particularly pleased at City, where two of my team-mates from the German team, Leroy Sane and Ilkay Gundogan, are playing. They bring both a great quality and the Premier League will be even better for it.

“All the clubs have invested heavily, not only on world-class players, but also on world-class coaches whohave been brought into the league. All teams have improved and I am looking forward to measuring myself against the best players in the world and being able to prove myself against them.”

Arsenal vs Manchester City analysis 5 show all Arsenal vs Manchester City analysis 1/5 Arsenal desperately need a true striker Last year Santi Cazorla urged Arsene Wenger to sign a “true, true striker”. This year Per Mertesacker made his protestations through Twitter. But still a new centre forward has not arrived.



It is not that Wenger is not trying, he has bid for Jamie Vardy and Alexandre Lacazette, but he certainly is not being decisive. It is now some time since Lyon turned down Arsenal’s bid and no new move has been made.



That must change after this loss to City, where Arsenal generally looked rather impressive until they got into the final third. They lacked a poacher to turn the ball in or stretch the defence and all too often crosses went into the box with only one player to compete for them.



Lacazette may not be the perfect solution that Wenger wants but the “internal solutions” he so often favours don’t seem to be available to him in this problem position. Arsenal FC via Getty Images 2/5 Granit Xhaka is ready The £35million summer signing agreed his move to Arsenal so long ago that he seems to have been forgotten in the demands for new blood but he is already proving to be a shrewd acquisition by Arsene Wenger.



His commitment to the tackle and understanding of the opposition’s style of play means he is perfectly suited to winning the ball back high up the pitch, as he did to feed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on 18 minutes. Only a slightly askew chip denied Xhaka an assist.



His tendency to press and chase the ball may see Arsenal’s age-old bugbear of acres of space in front of the defence rear its ugly head but, when twinned with Coquelin against the most dangerous opponents, Arsenal’s midfield no longer looks so easy to bypass. Arsenal FC via Getty Images 3/5 Theo Walcott could be Arsenal's supersub When Arsenal were forced to delete their pre-match lineup announcement from social media it seemed obvious which player was responsible for the snafu – and it was no surprise when Walcott found himself pulled out a lineup more quickly than Juan Mata in a Jose Mourinho side.



He did manage to get on the pitch after half-time and found himself deployed in the right wing position he now insists is his natural one. And he proved just what he can do from there by picking out Alex Iwobi to curl in the equaliser before accelerating in from the right to give the Gunners the lead.



Yet Wenger warned Walcott before today’s game that his defensive deficiencies would make him an unlikely starter out wide and it may well be that, at 27 years of age, the England international has to accept that he is of most use to Arsenal as an Ole Gunnar Solskjaer rather than a Thierry Henry. Adam Holt/Reuters 4/5 Holding discovers there’s no margin for error in the top flight The new arrival from Bolton had looked composed and reliable in pre-season games with Chivas and the MLS and was much the same here, except for one moment when he lost track of Sergio Aguero. From then on the outcome was inevitable as the Argentine tapped home from Raheem Sterling’s excellent cross.



Such is the cost of a mistake against elite centre forwards, even in pre-season games, but Wenger will doubtless trust Holding to learn from this mistake. JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images 5/5 City’s current defenders can’t fulfil Pep Guardiola’s expectations Aleksandar Kolarov and Fernando will almost certainly not be starting against Sunderland next week, not least because both looked well out of their depth in central areas.



From the first minute onwards Fernando found himself unable to keep up with Sanchez, who would chase down any bad touch and hare after the ball no matter where it was.



Ramsey was much the same and all too often the centre-backs, progenitors of Guardiola’s attacks at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, were becoming the supply line for Arsenal. Getty Images 1/5 Arsenal desperately need a true striker Last year Santi Cazorla urged Arsene Wenger to sign a “true, true striker”. This year Per Mertesacker made his protestations through Twitter. But still a new centre forward has not arrived.



It is not that Wenger is not trying, he has bid for Jamie Vardy and Alexandre Lacazette, but he certainly is not being decisive. It is now some time since Lyon turned down Arsenal’s bid and no new move has been made.



That must change after this loss to City, where Arsenal generally looked rather impressive until they got into the final third. They lacked a poacher to turn the ball in or stretch the defence and all too often crosses went into the box with only one player to compete for them.



Lacazette may not be the perfect solution that Wenger wants but the “internal solutions” he so often favours don’t seem to be available to him in this problem position. Arsenal FC via Getty Images 2/5 Granit Xhaka is ready The £35million summer signing agreed his move to Arsenal so long ago that he seems to have been forgotten in the demands for new blood but he is already proving to be a shrewd acquisition by Arsene Wenger.



His commitment to the tackle and understanding of the opposition’s style of play means he is perfectly suited to winning the ball back high up the pitch, as he did to feed Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on 18 minutes. Only a slightly askew chip denied Xhaka an assist.



His tendency to press and chase the ball may see Arsenal’s age-old bugbear of acres of space in front of the defence rear its ugly head but, when twinned with Coquelin against the most dangerous opponents, Arsenal’s midfield no longer looks so easy to bypass. Arsenal FC via Getty Images 3/5 Theo Walcott could be Arsenal's supersub When Arsenal were forced to delete their pre-match lineup announcement from social media it seemed obvious which player was responsible for the snafu – and it was no surprise when Walcott found himself pulled out a lineup more quickly than Juan Mata in a Jose Mourinho side.



He did manage to get on the pitch after half-time and found himself deployed in the right wing position he now insists is his natural one. And he proved just what he can do from there by picking out Alex Iwobi to curl in the equaliser before accelerating in from the right to give the Gunners the lead.



Yet Wenger warned Walcott before today’s game that his defensive deficiencies would make him an unlikely starter out wide and it may well be that, at 27 years of age, the England international has to accept that he is of most use to Arsenal as an Ole Gunnar Solskjaer rather than a Thierry Henry. Adam Holt/Reuters 4/5 Holding discovers there’s no margin for error in the top flight The new arrival from Bolton had looked composed and reliable in pre-season games with Chivas and the MLS and was much the same here, except for one moment when he lost track of Sergio Aguero. From then on the outcome was inevitable as the Argentine tapped home from Raheem Sterling’s excellent cross.



Such is the cost of a mistake against elite centre forwards, even in pre-season games, but Wenger will doubtless trust Holding to learn from this mistake. JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images 5/5 City’s current defenders can’t fulfil Pep Guardiola’s expectations Aleksandar Kolarov and Fernando will almost certainly not be starting against Sunderland next week, not least because both looked well out of their depth in central areas.



From the first minute onwards Fernando found himself unable to keep up with Sanchez, who would chase down any bad touch and hare after the ball no matter where it was.



Ramsey was much the same and all too often the centre-backs, progenitors of Guardiola’s attacks at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, were becoming the supply line for Arsenal. Getty Images

Ozil returned to training with Arsenal earlier this month after an extended break following his participation at Euro 2016, where he impressed for Germany on their route to a disappointing semi-final exit at the hands of hosts France.

Since the tournament national team captain Bastian Schweinsteiger has resigned, leading to suggestions that the 27-year-old Ozil should be the next to wear the armband. For the Arsenal midfielder, though, it is just an honour to be considered for the role.

“Of course it is a huge honour to lead the national team with the armband on the pitch. But I’m not seeking to be the new captain.

“We have many experienced players in the team who have something to say on the pitch and who can help the young players. I include myself in this group – but I don’t need the armband.”