I hope Arsene Wenger managed to get through to Arshavin during the end of last season, and during these summer months he is working hard to get his body ready for the demands of the Premier League. He is approaching the years where he should be reaching his peak. He reputation for his country has diminished and it is down to Arshavin and Arshavin only to get everyone back

While negotiations are still ongoing behind the scenes, everything remains exactly the same in the forefront. Nothing finalised to show in the shop window and no players have any bags packed just yet. I suppose this is often the way on the weekend. I cannot remember the last time an Arsenal transfer was confirmed and shown on dot com during the weekend.

This hasn’t stopped further rumours continuing in the press. Apparently Gael Clichy has interest from Roma who are willing to stump up the £8m that we are asking for. I think that kind of price is a bargain for a full back with so much top level experience.

If he is to leave Arsenal then I would hope that it would be abroad unless Manchester City can do what they are good for and give us £16m for a player with only one year on his contract. They have history of doing that before with the signing of Nigel de Jong for example.

So what of a replacement? Well the Times have the answer. Newcastle want away left back is apparently in our sights. Jose Enrique has Champions League aspirations and he is waiting to see if anyone in the CL is interested in his signature. I do not know much about him but I do know that he is very highly rated by the Newcastle supporters but the only games I have seen him play has been against us, and I don’t really take too much notice of the opposition.

I really cannot imagine Arsenal playing over the course of the season without Gael Clichy, a hugely underrated player in my eyes but it looks more and more likely that he will not be around next season.

I am intrigued to know what attributes a new left back will have and what that will bring to the team.

Lille general manager Frederic Paquet has spoken of the Gervinho situation, explaining that talks are still ongoing and hopefully that something will be resolved next week. So how many 48 hours is that then?

Transfer negotiations are hardly ever straight forward and often take plenty of time for all the boxes to be ticked and while supporters generally lack patience, all we can do right now is wait.

One player I want to speak about is actually at the club believe it or not, I know that is not often the case during the off season but I have been thinking about our little Russian a few times over the last week.

Thinking about the rough patches he had last season and the exciting form he brought to Arsenal when he first came to the club a few years ago.

I have heard and read about his statistics plenty of times in recent months. One of the leading assist makers while contributing to his fair share of goals. I have to admit that much of his negatives have stuck with me over the course of the season and I would not have been too upset to see our number 23 replaced by another type of wide forward but it all came to me when I watched the Arsenal goals of the season. It struck me how often Arshavin was involved in the goals.

I almost take his ability for granted. He has immense technical quality and his goal at West Brom springs to mind. He can make a difference to games and even during a season when he showed some of his worst form for both club or country, he still provided moments of brilliance.

With Arshavin I think we are being sold short. Imagine Dennis Bergkamp did not take care of himself physically and relied only on his ability. We would have seen moments of his magic but nowhere near the amount of quality.

Now imagine if Arshavin was as driven and as mentally and physically focused as Dennis Bergkamp. He would certainly not have been sitting on the bench come the end of last season.

I hope Arsene Wenger managed to get through to Arshavin during the end of last season, and during these summer months he is working hard to get his body ready for the demands of the Premier League. He has been visibly out of shape and that is not correct for an Arsenal player or any top level player. Part of his job is to eat right and take care of his assets and for the last year that clearly has not been happening.

He is approaching the years where he should be reaching his peak. His reputation for his country has diminished and it is down to Arshavin and Arshavin only to get everyone back onside.

If he can show hunger and commitment then there is no reason why he cannot be at least on par with Robin Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas next season. I certainly hope so.

Back tomorrow.