Arsenal’s incredible second XI is worth £400m and are tipped to finish in top four in bold claim

Arsenal’s star-studded squad is so good that their back-up XI would finish in the top four of the Premier League table.

That’s according to talkSPORT regular and Gunners fan Joel Beya, who thinks Mikel Arteta‘s side should dominate for years.

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Of course, Arsenal won the Premier League last season, lifting the title by finishing seven points clear of Manchester City.

And they sent out a warning to those in the top flight that they are going for glory again this term, as they demolished City 3-0 in the Community Shield on Sunday afternoon.

Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Viktor Gyokeres all didn’t start the game, with the goals being scored before their introduction, while Erling Haaland, Elliot Anderson and co. started for City.

The dominant performance, even without their main stars, showed just how good they can be heading into the new campaign.

Due to that, Beya made the bold statement that even with the back-up players starting, Arsenal would still be in the top four.

“If you’re going to dominate, which I think Arsenal should do over the next couple of years, you need to have the best assembled squad,” he said on talkSPORT Breakfast.

“That’s how Pep Guardiola did it. If you’re looking at his record, it’s because he practically had two players for each position.

“I believe that our second string team could finish top four in the league.”

In response, Ally McCoist said: “Your second string team, if you look at it after the Community Shield… you have a point!”

So, talkSPORT have now taken a look at what their line-up would look like with all of the back-up options playing from the off…

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Could Arsenal’s second XI finish in the top four?

A two-time Champions League winner and Premier League champion Kepa Arrizabalaga is Arsenal’s back-up goalkeeper behind David Raya.

In front of him, Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera, Piero Hincapie and Myles Lewis-Skelly would make up the defence.

White and Mosquera started in the Community Shield win over Man City, with Lewis-Skelly providing an assist from midfield.

Hincapie came on in the second half in his first competitive appearance since signing permanently after 39 appearances last term.

Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi, both World Cup winners this summer, are part of the second-string midfield, along with Eberechi Eze.

Eze has 41 goals and 25 assists in 179 Premier League appearances, scoring seven in his first season with the Gunners last term.

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When it comes to Arsenal’s back-up attack, there are plenty of goals and assists in the line-up.

Saka, Gyokeres and Christos Tzolis look set to be the starters, so Gabriel Martinelli, Noni Madueke and Kai Havertz would be the second-string setup.

Martinelli, who could end up leaving the club this summer, has scored 62 goals and provided 36 assists for the Gunners.

Meanwhile, Madueke scored eight and assisted four in all competitions following his move from Chelsea last summer.

And as for Havertz, he scored in the Community Shield and has 55 goal contributions in 112 games for Arsenal altogether.

Max Dowman is also another contender for the back-up line-up – which has a combined market value of over £400million – with the 16-year-old starlet tipped to become a superstar.