Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes it is “very possible” for Chelsea to be title contenders this season.Arteta led his side to their first Premier League title in 22 years last season after three successive runners-up finishes, and feels Chelsea have “every ingredient to be in the highest part of the table”.“Knowing him (Xabi Alonso), knowing the history of the club, the quality of the squad that they have, the schedule that they are going to face in relation to other teams — it is very, very possible that is going to be the case,” Arteta told a press conference.Alonso may have had an unsuccessful spell managing Real Madrid, but went unbeaten to win the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen in his second season of senior management.His Chelsea team have been among the most entertaining Premier League sides thus far in the 2026-27 campaign, scoring nine goals but also conceding five in their opening two games. They also have no European football this season.Evaluating Chelsea's summer transfer windowLiam TwomeyThe meeting of Chelsea and Arsenal this weekend is set to provide many plot lines, with the relationship between Arteta and Alonso at the forefront.The pair have been friends since childhood, when they grew up together in San Sebastian, northern Spain. Born in the same age group in 1981-82, they played in the same grassroots club, Antiguoko Kirol Elkartea, alongside Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola.Arteta and Alonso reunited on Merseyside, with the former joining Everton just six months after Alonso signed for Liverpool in 2004.“That was incredible,” Arteta recalled. “Some incredible things happened. Pepe Reina (former Liverpool goalkeeper) and I used to share bunk beds in Barcelona and a few years later we used to live next to each other in Liverpool. He was playing for Liverpool and I was playing for Everton. This is the magic of this beautiful game.“I had to be sensible (with their friendship, considering the rivalry between Everton and Liverpool). We shared some moments together, that is inevitable. But as well you have to be able to separate what is your profession and what is a human relationship.”The presence of Basque managers in the Premier League has been a growing point of interest in recent seasons. Alonso is the most recent addition to a group that includes Arteta, Iraola and Unai Emery at Aston Villa.“We have tough skin,” Arteta said. “We have obviously dealt with a lot, inside the country.“That has reinforced us, it has made us different. Not better, but different in a sense. We have used that education and those values to be probably more prepared when we have to face difficult moments and challenges, to go for it.”