The question of how the English quintet will fare in the Champions League next season is a tricky one since we are yet to witness how the summer transfer window will unfold.

What happens in the transfer market will have a telling impact on the success of teams from the Premier League in Europe. But based on gut-feeling alone, here is how I can see each club coping next term.

Chelsea – They boast arguably the most stable team and if the spine of the squad is kept together while the right additions are made, the Blues might be serious contenders for the crown next year.

Any side managed by Antonio Conte knows how to defend and when you know how to defend, you don’t bow out of competitions too early.

The Italian national team of Euro 2016 was a fine example of how Conte can win through sheer discipline at the back and with Chelsea far more talented than that particular squad, there could be a long cup run at the offing.

Tottenham – Similar to Chelsea, Tottenham are very rich in the tactical discipline department under Mauricio Pochettino and that is every successful football team’s biggest asset.

However, where there is hardly any similarity between the two clubs is mentality. Spurs, through their back-to-back title failures from the past two seasons have displayed signs of a mental block when the stakes are really high.

Add to that, the fact that they will be playing at Wembley where wins were extremely hard to come by last season and the issue of a mental block could be what holds back Tottenham again next year.

Liverpool – Liverpool, with or without Jurgen Klopp, traditionally have their fortuitous ways in cup competitions and that makes them exciting to watch because they could make it to the semi-finals even with an inferior squad.

It has to be said that the return of Champions League nights at Anfield will be quite an experience to savour and assuming that Klopp makes a few decent acquisitions while they survive the qualifying round, the Reds’ fearlessness could be their catalyst.

After all, this is a team which was at its best in matches against sides from the top six of the Premier League this season. They certainly know how to embrace the big occasions even though their defending will need collective improvement.

Manchester City – An emphatic response to the 2016/17 season will be expected from Pep Guardiola and perhaps this summer’s transfer window will mean more to Manchester City than any other club.

Should their squad be bolstered with more defensive additions, City will be a threat in the knock-out stages because going forward, they have more than enough goals in them.

Manchester United – Like Liverpool, there could be a vibrant welcoming back of Champions League football at Old Trafford which could inspire a long run in the competition.

And considering the fact that Jose Mourinho has an impressive record in Europe, it is unlikely that United will be crashing out of the competition before the knockout round.

In conclusion, apart from Tottenham Hotspur and their mental block, the English teams are perhaps bound to be better equipped for the big crown next season than they have been in the past five or six years.

The absence of Arsenal, who have honestly misrepresented the quality of the Premier League in recent years, could also result in a reduction of embarrassing score-lines this time.

If Arsenal’s Rob Holding was a company on Wall Street, he would be worth owning a few shares in since his stock price is on a resplendent rise.

In nine months, the 21-year-old has gone from one of those inessential transfer risks from Arsene Wenger to one of those shrewd signings from the Frenchman.

Despite his classy track record in nurturing young players over the years, the Arsenal manager does not always get it right with cheap deals; as the likes of Amaury Bischoff and Junichi Inamoto would attest to.

But for the most part, Arsene has enjoyed more hits than misses with his inexpensive moves in the transfer market. And as it stands, Rob Holding is growing into one of those ‘hits’.

The centre-back’s low price tag meant expectations were not up there in the sky regarding how he would fare in his debut campaign at the Emirates stadium.

In fact, some expected a loan spell to be his next move but we are now witnessing why Wenger allowed him to hang on to the coattails of the starting eleven while Calum Chambers was sent out instead.

Holding has produced promising displays on the few occasions he has been called upon. But let’s not forget that those have been a few occasions nonetheless.

The youngster has shown no fear in keeping up with a number of decent opponents thus far and that performance at Wembley against Manchester City was perhaps the highlight of his potential.

In a comparison with City’s own fledgling centre-back John Stones – Twitter’s favourite debate these days – Holding certainly does not seem to be as inferior as the big gap in their price tags would suggest.

However, there is also a big gap in the number of appearances the two youngsters have made. Even though Holding has been encouraging to watch, we have only seen him in action on a handful of occasions.

And regardless of how good you are as a footballer, the inevitability is; the more games you play, the more tests you face and as a result, the more flaws you uncover.

The 21-year-old ticks most of the boxes for a rising star, but in certain periods during games, he has not hidden the traits of a raw talent.

That nervy start against Manchester United which saw him unwittingly put a one-on-one chance on the plate for Wayne Rooney signaled the room for improvement there is.

Dealing with nerves appears to be one of the unrefined aspects of his game and perhaps it was the fear over how he would cope with the hostility of a derby at White Hart Lane which prompted Wenger to keep him on the bench for the clash against Tottenham despite his performance the week before.

Even though his displays in recent weeks have promised so much, we have to keep our hype in check because this really is a delicate stage of his development.

Raising our expectations so high could result in a huge drop in momentum or confidence when Holding runs into his first notable mistake.

High quality right-backs are becoming more and more of a scarcity and that is quite ironic after being spoiled with the existence of many like Cafu, Javier Zanetti and Lilian Thuram in the previous generation.

The question of who is the best right-back in the world at the moment is likely to be greeted with prompt answers along the lines of ‘Lahm’ or ‘Alves’ because in truth, there are very few options to choose from these days.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s monopolization of the applaudable things in football today has seen most academies aim at producing more attacking players than defenders.

Then again, you could argue that right-backs play a pivotal role in the attacking side of the game and therefore their development should be prioritized nonetheless.

Regardless of how alarming the shortage of players who prefer to play in that position has become, we are still gifted with two right-backs in Dani Alves and Philipp Lahm who would probably walk into any team in the world at their peak.

Both players are approaching the twilight of their careers and it will be interesting to find out the next clubs to develop defenders of their calibre for the new generation.

But whilst they are both still in action and have not hung up their boots, the subject of who is better between Lahm and Alves is still an appealing debate for many students of the game.

During his early years, Lahm used his diminutive stature and pace to terrorize opponents going forward, but he was still a responsible defender when time came for him to do his main job of keeping up with attackers.

Alves, on the other hand, is slightly more one-sided with his attributes than his counterpart. The Brazilian is perhaps more skilled at taking on opponents when with the ball but he does leave a few spaces unattended when possession is lost.

Going all the way back to his days at Sevilla, Alves has always imposed himself as a right-winger or a wing-back due to his prolific contributions in attack.

Lahm has his menacing moments in and around the 18-yard box but his Brazilian opposite number has recorded more goals and assists for Barcelona and Juventus.

Even so, the contrast in defensive capabilities between the two is perhaps why Lahm has achieved more with the German national team than Alves has with Brazil.

Ultimately, full-backs are made to attack and defend but since they occupy a spot in the back four, their ability to stop opponents is of higher importance.

And therefore, Lahm, who leaves less to be desired when tracking back, is probably the superior option between the duo.

AS Monaco have been a flickering force in the French top flight and European football over the past two decades.

At their highest, they were making an appearance in the 2004 Champions League final and when matters got excruciatingly low, the club suffered relegation from Ligue 1 in 2011.

Monaco were previously labelled the Manchester City of French football after embracing the ownership of billionaire owners who promised to wipe off the stains of mid-table mediocrity by spending lavishly on marquee signings.

That was when Radamel Falcao first arrived along with the acquisitions of James Rodriguez and Jao Moutinho.

However, unlike Manchester City, the French outfit were never rewarded for their heavy investment in the transfer market and before the dust even settled, their financial power had quickly faded while star players jumped ship to bigger clubs.

The period between 2012 and 2014 was a particularly worrying one for Monaco but then came Leonardo Jardim who gradually turned matters around at the Stade Louis II.

In a fashion similar to how Pep Guardiola revolutionized Barcelona following his appointment in 2008, Jardim used faith in youth to begin the healing process of the club.

Monaco resorted to the philosophy of handing players from the club’s academy a chance to impress and that slightly modified the tactics of the team.

They went from a side eager to have a go at the opposition to a team which rather survived by staying compact and organized due to the obvious lack of resources.

Clever transfer moves like the signing of Dimitar Berbatov and the return of Radamel Falcao later on, added a vital amount of experience to the attacking unit.

By the 2015/16 season, Monaco were beginning to gain an identity despite the loss of Anthony Martial and their ability to keep some pressure on a Paris Saint-Germain side led by Zlatan Ibrahimovic was an encouraging sight.

Therefore, it was not entirely surprising to witness them set the pace in Ligue 1 as soon as PSG were weakened by the departure of the Swedish goalscorer.

This season, the emergence of youngsters like Fabinho, Thomas Lemar and most notably Kylian Mbappe has caught the world off guard and that is why Monaco are still in the Champions League with not too long left in the season.

It has been a well calculated rebuilding of a squad based on youth and for Jardim, that was the only to take the club forward after their fall from grace.

Even though Arsenal’s return to form has calmed some nerves, not all issues appear to have been addressed at the Emirates stadium.

For a player the magnitude of Laurent Koscielny to enter the final year of his contract without much concern publicly shown by the club should be worrying for Arsenal fans.

The likes of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez may have their own contractual complications, but Koscielny’s situation could have greater consequences than anyone else’s.

While Ozil and Sanchez still have a contract with Arsenal which does not expire until June 2018, the same cannot be said of Koscielny who could choose to say goodbye at the end of this season as a free agent.

Arsenal have been here before with players who are entering either the final months or years of their deals and no lessons appear to have been learned from the disputes which saw Robin van Persie and Bacary Sagna go from fans’ favourite to former Gunners within the stretch of a season.

Back in the fall of 2011, few paid attention to Van Persie not renewing his deal at the beginning of what turned out to be his last year at the club and in late 2013, Sagna’s delayed talks over a new contract did not bother too many people.

Fans of the Gunners assumed the duo would go on to sign new deals back then and they seem to be assuming Koscielny will go on to do the same now.

Yes, new contracts require some time to finalise and perhaps much longer than actual transfer deals, but by FIFA rules, Koscielny can secure a verbal agreement with any club of his choice ahead of the summer if he does not plan to sign an extension with the Gunners.

Arsenal have always maintained a long-standing club policy of being reluctant to offer players over the age of 30 big new deals and that may well be the reason behind Koscielny’s delayed recommitment.

After all, the 30-year-old France international has become one of the Premier League’s household names and he probably believes he can attract a better offer from elsewhere if Arsenal are still dithering over the value of his new deal.

Thus, it would not come as a surprise that Koscielny has made up his mind to not remain at Arsenal.

A deal for Cohen Bramall might be on the cards, and yes a new full-back is needed at the Emirates stadium, but saying this Arsenal team is not crying out for a new centre-forward would be pure misjudgement.

In fact, a goalscorer, never mind Granit Xhaka, should have been Arsene Wenger’s first signing as soon as last season ended.

If an injury (to Per Mertesacker) is what has got Wenger dusting off his wallet to sign a defender, then an injury (to Danny Welbeck) should have seen him get the deal done for a striker long before the 2016/17 campaign kicked off.

Perhaps the audacious bid for Jamie Vardy last summer was a sign that the club had realized Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott as centre-forward options would not be enough.

But even with the need for a new goalscorer now understood, who at all is available to be bought in January? Vardy is gone, Higuain is gone, barring an astronomical transfer bid, Morata isn’t coming and neither is Mauro Icardi in the middle of the season.

That leaves Alexandre Lacazette as the only remaining option because, in truth, Romelu Lukaku is hardly clinical enough to lead the Gunners’ frontline.

And with Lyon’s president continuing to make a nuisance of himself, who is to say Lacazette, a man currently sidelined by injury anyway, will end up joining Arsenal before February 1?

If the Frenchman’s proposed move never happens, Arsenal will have to humble themselves and find anything better than Walcott because, let’s face it, when Sanogo and Akpom are your only out-and-out strikers available on the bench, you are well and truly desperate.

Whomever the alternative to Lacazette is will have to be a quick-fix; a man who might not deliver beyond one or two seasons. And that is where Jermain Defoe makes some sense.

Yes, he is a 33-year-old striker, but his numbers last season – which were not different from his decent tallies from previous years – proved that he still knows where the back of the net is.

Take a look at his goal against Manchester City on Saturday and you will be reminded that he is the sort of striker Walcott has been aspiring to be for ten years now; a pacey, small-sized finisher.

Defoe has always been an above average striker who could provide you 20 goals, sitting in front of any midfield – never mind the ultra-creative one at Arsenal which puts chance after chance on the plate for even mediocre strikers.

Indeed, considering the form Defoe is in at the moment, he would have been a much-coveted name had he been a decade younger. But that is the point here. He is meant to be a quick fix and a quick fix is what Arsenal are in need of.

“Roberto has plans to return to the Premier League. He likes Arsenal. He thinks they’re a great a club. I must say I believe Arsenal would be a top choice for him.”

Those were supposedly the words of a long-time friend of Roberto Mancini in an interview with Tribalfootball last month.

Whether there is any truth to the above quotes or not, it has to be said that the idea of the Italian tactician replacing Arsene Wenger in the near future is not an outlandish one.

The likes of Diego Simeone and Thomas Tuchel, who have continued to be linked with the soon-to-be vacant Arsenal job, are unlikely to leave what appears to be lavish roles at Atletico Madrid and Dortmund respectively for a potentially uneasy position at the Emirates stadium.

And considering how former prime target Jurgen Klopp is now enjoying life at Liverpool, there appears to be a shortage of options in the managerial market.

That is why it comes as no surprise that an unfancied name like Eddie Howe is suddenly being linked with the Arsenal job. There just aren’t too many choices available.

Therefore, Roberto Mancini, a relatively young manager with Premier League and ‘big club’ experience should come into the conversation.

Indeed, only Sir Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti have a higher win percentage in the Premier League than the former Inter Milan boss.

In addition to that, a majority of the players signed by Mancini have gone on to become important stars at Manchester City.

Similar to Simeone, the Italian would bring the discipline and defensive stability which Arsenal have been missing for years.

And although his style of football is not a carbon-copy of Wenger’s, Mancini proved during his Manchester City days that he could coach teams to play attacking football when necessary.

After all, the City side which won the Premier League title in 2012 was not boring to watch by any means. They were rather a balanced team which could attack and defend.

Many have impugned the work Mancini did at the Etihad stadium, but during his four years there, his record was actually decent to say the least.

2009/10 – Took over from Mark Hughes in December after City had finished 10th the previous year and went on to finish 5th, narrowly missing out on the top four.

2010/11 –  Secured 3rd spot, finishing ahead of Arsenal before winning the FA Cup in his first full season in charge.

2011/12 – Won the Premier League with 89 points which was only a point less than what ‘the Invincibles’ totaled in 2003/04

2012/13 – Finished 2nd in a campaign troubled by injuries and dressing room drama before reaching the FA Cup final.

Bayern Munich have rarely been troubled by goal droughts in recent years and this season is unlikely to produce anything different. Therefore, the German champions may not feel the need to dip into the transfer market for a new striker.

However, considering how the avoidance of injuries is never a certainty in football, Carlo Ancelotti has to seriously consider what his options would be in the unexpected absence of Robert Lewandowski.

Yes, Thomas Muller can occasionally fill the void upfront but looking at Bayern’s squad at the moment, it appears that Lewandowski is actually the only experienced natural striker available, with the best of the remaining options being American youngster Julian Green.

Even so, there is no use in buying a striker with the potential of replacing Lewandowski because whoever that promising youngster is would never develop successfully by sitting on the bench.

In addition to that, the price of a goalscorer with a bright future is astronomical these days. Therefore it would make more sense to recruit a cheaper, older striker who is willing to be the understudy to Lewandowski.

As a backup center-forward, one of the ideal options would be former Bayern Munich star Claudio Pizarro. The Peruvian is an accomplished name in football who comes with bags of experience and is often happy to play the role of an impact substitute.

It would probably be even better for Ancelotti to find an extra striker who is a real threat in the air to provide an alternative to what Lewandowski does week in, week out.

As to who Bayern should purchase, the other option is yet another former Bavarian in Mario Mandzukic. Following the arrival of Gonzalo Higuain at Juventus, the Croatian is no longer guaranteed regular action and would be open to a return to his old club as a result.

AS Roma’s Edin Dzeko could also prove to be a decent choice to have on the bench in desperate times while Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud, who is likely to be the most expensive of all the aforementioned strikers, is another man to pursue.

Then again, Bayern’s sheer dominance of the Bundesliga is likely to see them secure the title with or without another striker.

Carlos Vela failed to find his feet in the Premier League but the reason behind that might have something to do with Arsene Wenger.

“He got his chance but he was not good enough!” Those words represent the daft conclusions made by many Arsenal fans who were actually convinced that Carlos Vela proved on his own that he was not up to the standards as a Gunner.

But if there is anything that Vela proved at Arsenal, it was the value of a manager’s faith in a player. Indeed, a lack of it, and that player’s progress is hindered substantially.

Carlos Vela probably fluffed his lines in his brief Arsenal spell, he probably was not equipped to sparkle in the Premier League after all, but one thing for sure is that his failure was not down to squandering his chances because frankly, he did not get that many. Playing every weekend and coming up with the same abysmal answers to the same questions is one thing, while playing a cameo every other weekend and not making the difference is another.

Vela was the victim of the latter scenario and even the numbers say it.The fact that he never started back-to-back games in an Arsenal shirt, the fact that he only ever made three starts in his entire Premier League career and the fact that a whopping 43 of his 64 appearances as a Gunner were as a substitute tells the story of a man utilized in a peripheral role.

Ironically, most of Vela’s limited chances came at the expense of a much-favoured Nicklas Bendtner, a man who got the starts and the attention but a man who also received criticism for performing only when his erratic talent desired. The epitome of Wenger’s missing faith in Vela was how the Mexican would produce sublime moments in cup ties during midweek but would be nowhere to be found when the team-sheet was revealed during the Premier League weekends.

Yes, jet lag from international duties with Mexico was no aid to his playing time at the Emirates and that may be Wenger’s excuse for restricting the striker’s opportunities. But for the most part, it was as if the exploits of the former Guadalajara whiz-kid simply could not attract any sort of reward from his boss. Indeed, the only occasions he received an Arsenal call-up were when all else was failing during the dying minutes of games. And to be fair, not many footballers will pick those times to showcase their full potential because it is easier to fail under pressure.

That week during his debut 2008/09 season when Vela scored a hat-trick in the Carling Cup but was somehow dropped to the bench during the league clash with Hull City days later summed it all up. Incidentally, Arsenal went on to lose that game 2-1 at home to Hull, and as expected, Vela only played a part when his team was chasing the game.

Thus, the best of Vela’s critics have judged him in events when even the ten other men he was on the pitch with were in no comfort to be judged. Sure, Carlos was culpable for scarcely delivering a telling contribution when he came off the bench and indeed, all it might have taken was one sensational equalizer or game winner to do his ratings a world of good.

But the bottom line is that the comprehensive attributes of a player is unveiled not in cameos or some 10 minutes of tension as a substitute but during 90 minutes after 90 minutes. At least, watch the boy miss opportunities all day and be convinced he is terrible rather than condemn his ability because he could not help find that precious late goal.

Despite being starved of consistent involvement with the first team, Vela’s goal tally had more than pride to it. Overall, he managed three goals to match those three starts in his Premier League stint at Arsenal and in the Champions League – where he once came off the bench and bagged a double featuring two of his dazzling trademark chips against Braga – Vela made up for lack of action again.

And for the domestic cups where Wenger willingly paved way for him to impress, Vela did not disappoint. A staggering six goals from just eight starts in the Carling Cup ad FA Cup parceled his statistics.

“I can’t believe Arsenal never gave Vela a proper chance. Now we’re seeing what he can do when the manager believes in him” were the remarks of Spanish football expert Guillem Balague after witnessing Vela spearhead Real Sociedad into contention for a top four place in La Liga last season.

La Liga may well be the better fit for the 28-year-old, but there is little evidence to prove that he was not meant to shine in England. And Arsenal may never find out what Carlos Alberto Vela was meant to be.