Even though last season has not been his best, I still think that the Frenchman is one of the best, if not the best, right back in the Premiership. Last year, he had his problems with injuries and all the transfer rumors didn’t help a bit but it just seem that the Arsenal back line is much stronger when his is in the squad. He also adds more to the attacking formation and crosses, much better than what Carl Jenkinson has to offer presently. Of course, Jenkinson would be the one to inherited this position but next year might still be a bit early for the young man.

So the news that Sagna is willing to see out his contract and possibly discuss a new one next year can only be good news for the Arsenal fans

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One of the major changes that the manager made was benching the captain Thomas Vermaelen in favor of the central pairing of Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertersacker. Looking forward to next season, it is obviously that the Gunners need to strengthen the defensive part of their game and especially as Barcelona and Bayern Munich are circling to try and snap up Koscielny. That is why there are reports that Arsenal is close to the signing of Swansea’s Ashley Williams.

Williams had a standout season and was a rock for the Swans in the Premiership and leading them to their first Carling Cup victory. He is strong defender who is quick on his feet and powerful in the air, much like Sol Campbell was during his heyday. Campbell was a great defender for the Gunners during the Invincibles era and Williams will hopefully have the same impact when he joins the Gunners.

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Throughout the Wenger era, Barcelona has made it a habit of taking the cream of the crop from Arsenal. It is as if Arsenal was the development club for the Spanish side. Players who have made the transition include, Overmars, Petit, Henry, Hleb, Fabregas and Song. If my memory serves me right, probably only Henry and Fabregas could be considered marginal success as they made regular starts for the club. There rest were relegated into squad players and sold after just a season or two.

Now the Spanish side is looking again at another Arsenal player, this time French defender Laurent Koscielny, probably to replace Carlos Puyol. I would not be surprised if this deal happens sometime in the next weeks or so and I would be equally not surprised to see Koscielny languish in the reserves throughout the season. I guess the pay package will be good and of course the prestige of playing for Barcelona is there but if I was Koscielny, I would pay attention to history and see the failures of his predecessors because it could be the end of a promising footballing career at the very top should he take the plunge.

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Bendtner, who joined the club as a youth player in 2004 showed fleeting glimpses of his brilliance while with the senior team but when called into real action, often failed to deliver. He has had many opportunities to shine in the senior squad but have never took any of them. The Arsenal management has tried to sell him for two seasons now but could only managed to find loans deals for the player as no team has stepped up with an offer, until now. For this past season, the Danish international found himself languishing in Serie A with Juventus, failing to score a single goal in 10 appearances.

In the past two seasons, Bendtner has has the chance to move to a smaller club and try his fortunes there but he decided he was too good for them and only wanted to be associated with the big boys. However, as history has proven, his quality is nowhere near what he proclaimed and hopefully a move to a second tier club will reignite his career in the future.

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Throughout the Wenger era, many talented youngster such as Cesc Fabregas, Fran Merida, Jan Toral and Hector Bellerin have made the same journey to the Emirates. While Fabregas was a stunning success, the rest of the gang have not managed to light up the scene as much. Merida as a highly touted replacement for Fabregas but have since moved back to Spain.

While this first summer signing is not the big name that most fans want, let’s hope that this is only a start and bigger stars will join this youngster in the weeks to come.

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The problem with the term “value for money” is that the justification only comes when you have actually bought the players. For example, when Arsenal paid £4million for Park Chu Young, was it value for money? If the Korean had some success at the club then yes, it would have been a great value for money buy. However, not only was the transfer not value for money, in fact it was a waste of money. The point is that it doesn’t mean that if a player comes cheap it is necessary “value for money”. Again, if you look at the RVP transfer which cost Manchester United £25 million, it was extremely good business and value for their money because he almost single handedly won them the title. So to say that we will only buy a player if he is value for money is totally nonsense. A player can be a bust whether he cost £4million or £25 million. The only good thing about buying a player on the cheap is that the manager and management team does not get so much flak if the player turns out to be a bust.

For a manager it is going to be difficult to insulate yourself from making a bad decision in the transfer market. The only way to best protect is to make sure of getting proven quality players, not taking a punt on so called “value for money buys”. Arsene Wenger’s decision to play the market has totally failed because his most of his recent signings have not been up to par. He may have some good success with the likes of Cazorla, Koscielny, Arteta but the colossal failures that were Andre Santos, Park Chu Young, Sebastian Squillaci, Gervinho and Maroune Chamakh leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Today’s football world has changed and Arsene Wenger needs to change along with it. There will be the “Michu’s” to be discovered but it is going to be more difficult in this time and age.

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One thing we know from our past season is that there is a lack of cover from the defensive midfield position. In the early part of the season, Mikael Arteta was isolated in that position and the team suffered as a result. The winning stretch the team went on in the last part of the season could in part be attributed to the change in midfield formation by Arsene Wenger – adding Aaron Ramsey has another cover beside Arteta. Fellaini can seamlessly fit into this position and will definitely be an upgrade over Aaron Ramsey. Morever, the big Belgian is a threat in the air and will be an asset on set-pieces, especially when we get our fair share of free kicks and corners in a match.

The club has been linked with a host of defensive midfielders like Victor Wanyama, Etienne Capoue and David Alaba. No doubt these players could be better than the Belgian but here is a guy who has proven himself in the league for the past 6 years. I would definitely take that over an unproven league outsider anytime.

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After a bright start to his Arsenal career, Arshavin’s fortunes has really taken a tumble in the last two years and has widely been criticized for his lack of effort during games. He spent the better part of the previous season with Zenit St Petersburg but have not managed to make the move permanent. This year, he was only used sparingly in first team action and whenever he was on the field, he mostly gave pretty disappointing displays. You can safely say that his departure will not be missed by the team or the fans at large

The same case applies to Sebastian Squillaci who really came into the team as a bargain buy ala Mikael Silvestre and his displays showed that part of his worth as well. Basically, this was a player who shouldn’t should have never been bought and it is a disgrace that Arsenal keep him on for so long, probably at the expense of better central defenders like Kyle Bartley and Harvard Nordveit. I, for one, am really glad that he is leaving the club.

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In the two years that Cesc has left the Gunners, his game has improved quite a bit and now is more of a attacking midfielder than the playmaker that he was when at the Emirates. Getting him back would be a major boost to the club, both in terms of quality and fan morale but I am not sure he should be made a transfer priority. I like Cesc a lot and would love to see him in an Arsenal shirt again but with Cazorla and Wilshere both capable of playing in a similar role, it would be difficult to see how Arsene Wenger can accommodate the three of them in the same team. Of course, Cesc can now play as the centre forward as he does for the Spanish team, but this Arsenal team does not play like Spain and having a natural goal getter like Jovetic or Lewandowski or Rooney might be more beneficial to the team.

Of course if Arsenal has the resources to get all the players we want and Cesc as well then it for the best. However, with Arsene looking to buy a goalkeeper, defender, holding midfielder and striker, it seems unlikely that there will be leftover money to finance the purchase.

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