Premier League: Arsene Wenger backs Arsenal title tilt - with or without Luis Suarez

Arsene Wenger: Predicts his Arsenal side will challenge for the title

Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal can win the Premier League title - even if they fail to lure Luis Suarez from Liverpool.

Wenger's pursuit of Suarez looks to have stalled since the Reds rejected a second improved bid of just over £40m, with boss Brendan Rodgers declaring the Uruguayan to be worth a sum nearer to the £100m touted for Tottenham's Gareth Bale.

The Gunners have signed only France U20 forward Yaya Sanogo on a free transfer but Wenger was defiant when asked if he felt his squad, as it was, could challenge the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City.

"Yes, of course. I am confident. Why should I sit here and say to you we can

absolutely not win the title with the players we have?" said Wenger, speaking after Saturday's pre-season 2-2 draw with Napoli in the Emirates Cup.

Wenger refused to talk explicitly about Arsenal's continued attempt to snare Suarez, instead repeating his determination to keep transfer dealings private.

"I never said we have made a bid to Liverpool, now I can tell you we have made one, so at least that is some information. All the rest, I would like to keep to us," the Frenchman added.

"If we progress in that situation, we will inform you. At the moment, that is

where we are. We will treat every transfer with the rules we have always done until now, that is in a fair and respectful way.

"We have one month in front of us and we will work very hard to strengthen our squad, without naming any specific names, because I do not believe that will make negotiations easier.

"I never said we have made a bid to Liverpool (for Luis Suarez), now I can tell you we have made one, so at least that is some information. All the rest, I would like to keep to us."
Arsene Wenger
"When you want to buy any player you need the agreement of the club, of theplayer and you need to agree a price, so you need three agreements.

"What is important is we focus on the players we have, that we are not too much drawn into these stories."

Wenger's faith in his current squad looked questionable after some poor first-half defending allowed Lorenzo Insigne and Goran Pandev to put the Italians in command.

Rodgers on Suarez
But an acrobatic goal by Olivier Giroud with 18 minutes left sparked a fightback and Laurent Koscielny headed home a dramatic late equaliser.

"It was a good game overall at a good pace against a good side who finished second in Italy last year," Wenger said.

"I feel overall over 90 minutes we played going forward. It took us time to adjust defensively, and as well it was a good mental test because from 2-0 down to come back for 2-2 is very impressive."