Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has said that the title is a distant dream for Arsenal, which is why Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Alexis Sanchez want to leave this summer.

In his column for The Sun, Shearer tore into Arsenal after their performance yesterday. Of all his criticisms, there was one that stood out for how sadly true it is. “As for Arsenal, the title is a distant dream. The Ox and Sanchez know that — which is why they appear to want to go.”

Before the season began, there was talk of how Arsenal could go about building a squad that would be capable of challenging for the Premier League title. Despite being nowhere near the title for a long time, the expectation still exists for us to compete at the top of the table from the players and the fans.

It’s not just Chamberlain and Alexis who have clocked on to the fact that we aren’t winning the league anytime soon. Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri also left for the exact same reason. Much like the first two, they ran their contracts to the final year and forced a sale to another club.

Never mind winning the title, this team could well struggle to break back into the top four at the rate it’s going. Arsenal are currently just two places above the relegation zone in the Premier League table with three points from as many games this season, coming off the back consecutive defeats.