Wenger in better place for new season

Arsène Wenger was in a particularly upbeat and relaxed mood this week. Team sponsors Emirates laid on a customised private jet that resembled a hotel, so the Arsenal squad all arrived fresh and rested. His staff had bagged the best hotel in town, the one normally reserved for presidents and royalty: the Shangri-La, should you ever be in need of a bed in Singapore. The players loved the pool and Wenger had nabbed the best training facilities of all three clubs, too, at the American School.

Wenger’s most significant transfer business was done before he landed here – in the form of the goalkeeper Petr Cech from Chelsea – and his key players came through the week fitter and unscathed. He is not assured of success in the 2015-16 season but Wenger is clearly in a better place now he has weathered the financial restrictions of building a new stadium. He no longer has to sell his best players and has an air of confident tranquillity brought about by the stability he has created around him.

Arsenal do not need to spend as much as their rivals

While Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool have been going in for their own form of quantitative easing, spending money as if the new television deal has already kicked in, Wenger had no need to dip too deep into his reserves. The signing of Cech for about £10m is a prudent one and while he may need a backup defensive midfielder, there is no real need to bolster his attacking options – if they all stay fit. Injuries have been Wenger’s curse in recent years and he has enough goals and creativity in Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Santi Cazorla, Alexis Sánchez and even the teenager Chuba Akpom to worry every defence in the league.

Sánchez aside, as he will miss the start of the season following his Copa América involvement, the rest of them look all but ready to kick off against West Ham tomorrow rather than 9 August based on what we saw here. Wenger might be keeping an eye on Karim Benzema’s situation at Real Madrid and could even have a Wenger-style surprise signing up his sleeve but he should not and will not lose any sleep if he does not get anyone else. The nightmare scenario would be if Manchester City suddenly bid £50m for Jack Wilshere or Walcott but that would now seem unlikely in this transfer window.

Everton face another testing season

Just as Roberto Martínez was talking about stability and building on a strong foundation for a challenge at European qualification next season, Chelsea come along, bid for John Stones and upset everything. Unless Chelsea come up with £40m fast it is a situation that could drag on and ruin what little is left of the Everton manager’s summer. He has made astute bargain buys in Tom Cleverley and Gerard Deulofeu but only time will tell if that will help them improve on last season’s 11th-place finish. They looked so far behind Arsenal on Saturday night – a final won 3-1 by Wenger’s side – that another season of struggle would not surprise.

Martínez, however, is a top manager and has time to turn make a mockery of miserable pre-season predictions. He wants and needs another big man at the back to complement Stones and Phil Jagielka, having released Sylvain Distin and Antolín Alcaraz. It will be remarkable if Stones stays and Martínez’s targets include Jonny Evans at Manchester United, Middlesbrough’s Ben Gibson and possibly the former Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic, now at Internazionale. Either that, or Martínez is going to have to place his faith in some of his extremely promising youngsters. As any fule kno, however, “you can’t win anything with kids.”

Crouch and Stoke City raise profile

Peter Crouch, right, was the Stoke City player the football fans in Singapore wanted to see. Photograph: Stanley Chou/Getty Images

Mark Hughes was irked when a local Singapore reporter insinuated Stoke City were still a bunch of burly boot boys. Even Wenger agreed that Hughes has Stoke playing relatively attractive and successful football these days. The person they really wanted to hear from out here was Peter Crouch. The England forward was the most recognisable Stoke player in town – and not only because he used to play for the Asian favourites Liverpool. By far the biggest cheer when Stoke appeared in public, in training or in a match was reserved for the affable 6ft 7in striker.

Sure he stands out in a crowd but they love him more now they know he used to live here and once had a vague command of mandarin. He recalled: “I was here a long, long time ago. I think I was three and I don’t remember much of it. My father used to play cricket at Raffles a lot. There was a very small pitch there. Mum and dad have great things to say about our home here. It’s a pleasure and a privilege [to fly the flag for Stoke around the world]. I’ve been playing for England and stuff … I’m easily recognisable, put it that way.”

Stoke set high standards last season and will do well to repeat their ninth-place finish but they have the will of Singapore behind them. Well, at least Crouchy.

Singapore loves the Premier League

There are some fickle football fans in Singapore, as they like winners. Many a taxi driver has switched from Liverpool to Chelsea in recent years, for example. One thing that unites them all is their love of the Premier League. It is the most watched “brand” of sport in the country, with only F1 motor racing remotely challenging. Hence, 1% of the population – just over 50,000 – turned up to watch Arsenal beat Everton in the final of the Premier League Asia Trophy at the pristine National Stadium on Saturday night, despite the attraction of South Korean boy band Big Bang playing next door – think Take That playing Wembley Arena while the FA Cup final is going on at Wembley Stadium.

Best seats, which included the third place play-off between Stoke and a Singapore Select XI, were about £30 for kids and nearer £100 for adults. The atmosphere was more party than intense, with every goal sparking a dazzling light show on the stadium ceiling roof. One end of the ground was open air and although there was an element of air conditioning in the ground, it was still well over 30C and humid – perfect for a pre-season sweat. The Asia Trophy has been held biennially since 2003 and is the only Premier League-affiliated competition to take place outside England.

Its popularity will only increase and each staging possibly marks a step nearer English clubs playing competitive “home” matches abroad.