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With Arsenal currently five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table at the World Cup break, there’s reason for Gunners fans to believe that a Premier League title is a possibility.

There’s still a long way to go, but the form Mikel Arteta’s men have been in certainly make them contenders for the trophy, depending on whether they can continue it when club football resumes next month.

Things have certainly changed a lot in the past year, when Arsenal weren’t in this kind of form, seesawing between unbeaten spells and purple patches.

They spent the entirety of January with winning a game, but that changed almost immediately after Arteta decided to get rid of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Arsenal won their next five games after the Gabon international was released from his contract, and there are some in the Netherlands who believe Ajax should do the same with some of their players.

Former Dutch footballer Arnold Bruggink is among those, telling ESPN’s This Was The Weekend, relayed by Voetbal International: “Aubameyang didn’t follow Arteta’s rules, who got rid of his top scorer. The club supported him, Aubameyang left and things started to turn. Then you see a change. You could say goodbye to two or three players at Ajax.”

The Eredivisie club have struggled to find some form under Alfred Schreuder following Erik ten Hag’s move to Manchester United, with the normally dominating Dutch side currently second in the Eredivisie, three points behind Feyenoord after 14 games.

They never managed to replace the likes of Lisandro Martinez and Antony properly, and it’s now costing them.

Perhaps the World Cup break is exactly what they need, and maybe a few exits in January à la Arteta-Aubameyang?