(MENAFN- Gulf Times) While Chelsea head into the close season serene in the knowledge of their Premier League supremacy, the English summer holds weeks of recalibration for the teams seeking to topple them.
Can Manchester City, the usurped champions and runners-up this season, successfully rejuvenate a starting XI that has barely changed since their 2012 title triumph?
Will third-place Arsenal, newly streetwise in confrontations with their major rivals, finally shake off the fragility that has prevented them from maintaining a sustained title challenge since 2004?
Are Manchester United, back in the Champions League after a season of uneven progress under Louis van Gaal and with millions to spend on new players, equipped to return to centre-stage?
And can Liverpool, shorn of Steven Gerrard and chastened by a 6-1 drubbing at Stoke City on the final day, rediscover the winning formula that took them to the brink of the title 12 months ago?
Chelsea moved quickly and decisively in last year's transfer window, recruiting Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa, and looked like champions in waiting from the moment they won 3-1 at Burnley on the season's opening weekend.
Having seen his side finish the campaign eight points clear of City at the top of the pile, manager Jose Mourinho says his only priority during the close season will be making sure he keeps his squad together.
"The base last year was to sell some to buy some," Mourinho said. "The base this season (2015-16) is to keep my squad."
Didier Drogba has already confirmed his departure and Mourinho is likely to lose second-choice goalkeeper Petr Cech, but he will approach next season with his armoury fully intact, if not enhanced by supplementary signings.
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