Tuesday, August 14, 2012
12:37 PM

Will Arsenal retain the spot as London’s top club, or could Chelsea, Fulham, QPR, Tottenham or West Ham steal their crown?

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With the new season just a few days away London24 asks, ‘Which London side will finish highest in the Premier League’?

Arsenal took the crown last year, from Chelsea and Tottenham. QPR were well adrift at the bottom, while Fulham are in mid-table.

Below we take a look at the sides and look at their transfer deals made so far.

ARSENAL

Arsenal’s ability to challenge at the summit of the Premier League depends on the capability to hold onto Robin van Persie.

The Gunners finished third last year, ahead of Chelsea and Tottenham, but will face a challenge from their London rivals again.

IN

Santi Carzola (Malaga, £16.5m), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier, £13m), Lukas Podoloski (Cologne, £11m)

OUT

Gavin Hoyte (Dagenham, free), Manuel Almunia (Watford, free), Joel Campbell (Real Betis, loan), Denilson (Sao Paulo, loan), Ryo Miyaichi (Wigan, loan)

CHELSEA

Chelsea have invested heavily this summer, bringing in Eden Hazard, Oscar, Marko Marin and Thorgan Hazard as they look to improve on their sixth placed finish last season, behind Tottenham and Arsenal.

They will be looking to avoid a repeat of last season and wrestle back supremacy in London.

IN

Eden Hazard (Lille, £32m), Oscar (Internacional, £25m), Marko Marin (Werder Bremen, £7m), Thorgan Hazard (Lens, free)

OUT

Didier Drogba (Shanghai Shenhua, free), Jacob Mellis (Barnsley, free), Salomon Kalou (Lille, free), Jose Bosingwa (released), Thibaut Courtois (Atletico Madrid, loan), Romelu Lukaku (West Bromwich Albion, loan), Kevin De Bruyne (Werder Bremen, loan)

FULHAM

Fulham gave the Merseyside duo a scare and have truly established themselves as an upper mid-table club now.

Could they bridge the gap to London’s big three? They’ve been able to show what they can do in London derbies but not over the course of the season.

IN

Hugo Rodallega (Wigan, free), Mladen Petric (Hamburg, free), George Williams (MK Dons, free), Sascha Riether (Cologne, loan)

OUT

Dickson Etuhu (Blackburn, undisclosed), Marcel Gecov (AA Gent, undisclosed), Andrew Johnson (QPR, free), Danny Murphy (Blackburn, free), Pavel Pogrebnyak (Reading, free), Bjorn Helge Riise (released), Orlando Sa (released)

QPR

QPR will be going into the new season with a much-changed side. Will they have gelled sufficiently in order to climb the Premier League table?

IN

Junior Hoilett (Blackburn, tribunal), Ji-sung Park (Manchester United, undisclosed), Samba Diakite (Nancy, undisclosed), Robert Green (West Ham, free), Ryan Nelsen (Tottenham, free), Andrew Johnson (Fulham, free), Fabio (Manchester United, loan)

OUT

Paddy Kenny (Leeds, £400,000), Heidar Helguson (Cardiff, undisclosed), Rowan Vine (St Johnstone, free), Peter Ramage (Crystal Palace, free), Danny Gabbidon (released), Danny Shittu (released), Fitz Hall (released), Gary Borrowdale (released), Lee Cook (released), Patrick Agyemang (released), Akos Buzsaky (released)

TOTTENHAM

Tottenham’s future as contenders at the top of the table could depend on how they cope with Luka Modric’s almost-inevitable departure.

Andre Villas-Boas struggled with Chelsea last season and he will want to finish above his former club this time around, while Spurs fans want to claim bragging rights over Arsenal again.

IN

Jan Vertonghen (Ajax, £10m), Gylfi Sigurdsson (Hoffenheim, £8m)

OUT

Vedran Corluka (Lokomotiv Moscow, £5m), Steven Pienaar (Everton, £4.5m), Niko Kranjcar (Dynamo Kiev, £2m), Ryan Nelsen (QPR, free), Ben Alnwick (Barnsley, free), Louis Saha (released), Bongani Khumalo (PAOK, loan), Massimo Luongo (Ipswich, loan), Ryan Fredericks (Brentford, loan)

WEST HAM

West Ham will, first and foremost, be looking to survive but they have the potential to take the fight to the mid-table Premier League clubs.

But, as Newcastle showed last season, surprises could happen.

IN

Modibo Maiga (Sochaux, £5m), Alou Diarra (Marseille, £2m), James Collins (Aston Villa, undisclosed), Stephen Henderson (Portsmouth, undisclosed), George McCartney (Sunderland, undisclosed), Raphael Spiegel (Grasshoppers, undisclosed) Jussi Jaaskelainen (Bolton, free), Mohamed Diame (Wigan, free)

OUT

Robert Green (QPR, free), Julien Faubert (Elazigspor, free), Frank Nouble (Wolves, free), Freddie Sears (Colchester, free), Abdoulaye Faye (Hull, free), John Carew (released), Papa Bouba Diop (released), Ravel Morrison (Birmingham, loan)