Now should the argument be about having Thierry Henry or player x then that is a different story altogether. Having Thierry Henry for two months and only Henry means that once the two months is over we could be back to having a striker who hasn’t played a minute of Premier League football and a striker who has been out of form for a while now. Ideally we would have player x who can play wide and central, score goals, adapt from the off and who is young enough to improve without costing £50m. That along with Henry means that we

Good afternoon,

I trust you are well and that the double serving of Christmas dinner has finally digested. As we wave goodbye to December 25th, we move ever closer to a new year and to football fans up and down the country, it means more than jotting down new years resolutions it means potential new transfers which to some is more exciting than the football itself which is a little weird in my ever so humble opinion.

Anyhoo, today seems to be the Thierry Henry day. Whispers have been circulating that we have offered a two month loan to Henry and he should be available for selection on Monday against Fulham. A number of news outlets have been running the story and while we have yet to hear anything official you would guess that it is the usual case of smoke and the fiery stuff.

To be honest I would be more surprised if he doesn’t sign for us really but I have gone into all this before so there is no need to delve into it again. I will say that I do not understand the reluctance from some Gooners to have him back purely on the fact that he was better in the past. Nothing that he does or even doesn’t do will change what he has done in the past. His performance and goals will remain in history and even if we only have 60% of what we had back in 2003, I would have preferred to have called upon those services against Wolves when we were struggling for a goal. Surely it is better to have him than not, right?

Now should the argument be about having Thierry Henry or player x then that is a different story altogether. Having Thierry Henry for two months and only Henry means that once the two months is over we could be back to having a striker who hasn’t played a minute of Premier League football and a striker who has been out of form for a while now. Ideally we would have player x who can play wide and central, score goals, adapt from the off and who is young enough to improve without costing £50m. That along with Henry means that we have covered both Chamakh and Gervinho in January and February.

Arsene has taken some stick in some quarters for saying that we do not need a player like Yoann Gourcuff when we have the likes of Abou Diaby coming back from injury. What Arsene has not explained is that we have filled our quota of non home grown players. Desi Gunner explains this better than I could so I suggest you go and have a read… Ay! After you finish this blog of course, where are your manners?

So while we are all calling for Arsene to go and buy a left back, wide forward and creative midfielder, in reality it is not as straight forward as that.

We know that players like Sebastien Squillaci, Manuel Almunia and possibly a few others are no longer required and are replaceable we have to actually get those players out of the club and that does not just involve us. It involves another club, possible transfer fee’s and wage demands. While we must shoulder much of the blame over our summer’s activity it was also down to the buying clubs to stump up the money in a timeframe that suited us, it is not always just down to Arsenal FC.

So if Arsene wants to bring in Gourcuff, Henry, Podolski and a left back then there has to be plenty of players leaving the club before those additions can be erm.. added.

Abou Diaby’s name is only used because like many before him he is a scapegoat in many minds but Jack Wilshere’s name is conveniently ignored. While I would love some extra creative talent, we cannot forget how good Jack is and how good he will become. If we had space in our squad for a player like Gourcuff then perhaps Arsene may be interested but we do not and other areas are more pressing right now.

Lukas Podolski’s name has been brought up a number of times this season and the likes of Matt Law from the Daily Express are convinced that Arsenal are keen despite Arsene denying any interest. To be honest I have never really rated him in the past but I haven’t followed his career very closely. But he has scored goals this year and can play in both Gervinho’s and Chamakh’s position so it would make sense in that respect.

Per Mertesacker has been speaking about his German team mate and that has sparked more Podolski to Arsenal stories. It is the usual player linked to Arsenal, find Arsenal player to comment on player and then use that as a new story.

Given our squad situation I will be looking closely at what will happen to those who are already at the club rather than players at other clubs because not much can be done until players are shifted out. Having said that, Wayne Bridge is homegrown.

And with that I will leave you for today.

Back again tomorrow.