We have seen what happens when it goes the other way, Mathieu Flamini was deemed as surplus to requirements before his one super charged season where he found his best form. That is the margin the manager has to play with. A player close to joining Birmingham City and not being able to force his way into the team to a player who dominates AC Milan at the San Siro. We could have offered Flamini a large pay rise before he got to the last season of his existing contract and he could

While we patiently tap our feet, glance at our watches and walk around the room waiting for Queens Park Rangers vs Arsenal to entertain us we have a chance to flip open the folder of player contracts, possible clear outs and potential signings. Usually such a folder is kept locked away until the summer but while our midweek calendar is unusually free, there is not much to talk about these days and I guess the news outlets are thinking the same thing with continued transfer speculation in March.

Alex Song-belongs on the top earners bracket, well at least that is what his agent will be trying to push to the club. Shock horror he was linked to a move to Italy while he is in the middle of contract negotiations. Super coincidence some would say, or just what is now standard procedure from agents trying to fluster the club into paying the big shekels, just enough to allow Mr Agent to make enough for his family to receive a hot meal in the evening.

Arsene Wenger has said many a time that at the age of 24, a player starts to fulfil his potential and produce at the highest level. We saw that for six months from Samir Nasri and we are seeing that today with Cesc Fabregas. Alex Song is starting to produce consistently and it is why fans need to hold fire with the likes of Theo Walcott.

Since I read an article last year on Alex Song and his respect for ‘a second father’ Arsene Wenger, I have had and have little doubts that he will extend his stay at Arsenal. I must say, his range of passing has surprised me considerably. He has the same amount of successful through passes as a certain Cesc Fabregas and when you consider that the former number four plays in a more attacking side who along with Real Madrid dominate their league, well it is quite staggering.

I remember the nervous 17 year old who would come off the bench and blast the ball out of play, these days we have a player who is far from nervous and is actually comfortable and happiest when the ball is at his feet. I hope he signs on and continues to make great progress with the club.

Another player who is reported to be on the verge of an extension is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who only signed for the club in the summer so I would be a little surprised if this is true.

We have seen enough of the kid to know how good he will become and the club should be actively looking to keep that protective shield up to fend away rich scavengers who will feel no way about swooping in and swiping our own fleshy carcass from our grasp.

Ultimately offering Chamberlain a new contract would be doing the exact same thing that fans complain about. What’s the new buzz phrase again.. ‘rewarding failure’ in other words giving players new contracts based on potential.

Clearly it has its downsides as we can see with a few squad players who are still on our books but look increasingly like not having a future at the club. But I do not know what the club is supposed to do when the manager feels like he has a player that could turn out into the way he expects.

We have seen what happens when it goes the other way, Mathieu Flamini was deemed as surplus to requirements before his one super charged season where he found his best form. That is the margin the manager has to play with. A player close to joining Birmingham City and not being able to force his way into the team to a player who dominates AC Milan at the San Siro. We could have offered Flamini a large pay rise before he got to the last season of his existing contract and he could have not stepped up, suffered injury and lost form. Then all hell would break loose about how we are paying a player handsomely to sit on the bench and no other teams would take him due to his earnings.

Denilson is a similar case to Chamberlain, although his talents were not as obvious at 17 but I distinctly remember the hype over the young Brazilian who dominated Tottenham away from home in the cup. A teenager who found a route into the team via the Carling Cup and he stepped up to the plate.

We have the luxury of hindsight, football managers do not. I could wipe out from memory how bad I thought Alex Song was as a player and that I couldn’t see him making the grade at a club like Arsenal and now I could say comments like ‘why have we let Song get into this position in his contract’

I wouldn’t need to be questioned on it because I simply didn’t say it right?

I can forget about how much I praised a young Denilson, forget that he was called the new Cesc Fabregas and then lay into the manager about why he is still contracted to us.

Flipping it the other way around, I can bemoan the fact that Henri Lansbury was loaned out when he could have played a part in our season but then wipe away the fact that he cannot even get into West Ham’s squad on some match days.

In my deluded world, I tend to think that I have a decent eye for knowing if a player will turn out good or not but I certainly would not get anywhere near the level of an experienced manager like Arsene Wenger  for spotting who will make the grade and who will fall away. Especially when my decision actually counts and cannot be reworded and changed online at a later date.

It is silly to even say this but strangely enough, Arsene Wenger has made mistakes. It is silly because it is obvious as a human being that he will not get everything right and that it needs to be stated. Denilson, Bendtner, Vela, Pennant etc all either took wrong turnings in their career or they just did not develop to the standard that Arsene Wenger needs at Arsenal but you do not need me to write a list of players that have made the grade under his reign at the club.

Our transfer kitty and wage allowance is mixed into one tidy warchest and as you know we balance our net spend. So when we make mistakes we make them by giving someone a £40k three year contract rather than keeping them on a £15k deal which is probably due to expire not only that but they probably have plenty of scope to improve and would expect to improve until they reach roughly the age of 24.

Now when other clubs make mistakes they can make a £35m mistake or a £50m mistake. The players we often give improved contracts to were once kids who came to us for next to nothing so making a mistake by trying to protect that asset isn’t really the worst thing ever. Well not enough to find every possible television camera to complain about how ‘huge’ our wage bill is.

I am more than happy for us to continue to ‘reward failure’ if every now and then a product of our youth system produces a goalkeeper worth £20m+ or a creative skilful midfielder worth £30m+ or perhaps a left back who could also be worth £15-£20m especially if he shakes off his youthful injury issues.

I suspect that we will see the quality of youth players improve over the next few years, we have some outstanding kids. Levels above the Bendtner, Sidwell, Lupoli’s of the past at that age. The one’s who do not make the grade will be sold to pay for the running of our great academy even if certain players are rewarded for failure.

Another player who I am happy to be rewarded for failure is that of Ryo Miyaichi who without yet fulfilling his potential is showing glimpses of what he might do in future. Another risk for the manager to assess without knowing exactly where he will be down the line.

I thought he might be back at Arsenal next season but the wide positions are going to provide some stiff competition indeed. If the Podolski deal does happen then we will have Podolski who you would imagine being a certain starter on the left then you have Walcott, Chamberlain and Gervinho all challenging for a position on the right. If Andrey Arshavin does make it back to the club then there will be him also. Unless we start converting Walcott into Dani Alves without the scary eyes and the ridiculous cheating then I just do not know how we are going to fit in so many tasty quick wide forwards.

If Swansea sell Scott Sinclair then they could do worse by investing that cash in other areas of their squad and bringing in Ryo on loan for the season should he still need games outside of Arsenal.

Denilson is apparently going to extend his stay at Sao Paulo for another year, after a terrible start collecting red cards left, right and center it seems as if Denilson has found his groove, so good luck to him I say.

Speaking of young defensive midfielder’s, we are linked once again to Rennes youngster Yann M’Villa who will be leaving his club at the end of the season. We were very keen on him last summer but today I wonder where he would fit into our squad. I had a good debate with @Arse2Mouse who was very much for the Frenchman joining us and I am all for quality additions, I just cannot see us parting with what could be £20m when we have someone like Francis Coquelin who I rate very highly. It is not only Coquelin but most of our midfielder’s are rotating midfielder’s who can play in the three that we play. Song, Arteta, Wilshere, Coquelin, Rosicky, Diaby, Ramsey, Frimpong then we have youngsters who may or may not be far away from breaking through. Players like Nicholas Yennaris, Kyle Ebecilio, Thomas Eisfeld and a few others. Those who religiously watch the youngsters rate our young players very highly.

It is not about the quality of M’Vila, it is about the balance of the squad,  about maintaining partnerships whilst allowing for injuries and also giving room for younger players to progress. A difficult juggling act I would imagine.

The Mirror say that we are ‘closing in’ on a deal for Jan Vertonghen, I guess I am thinking along the same lines on M’Villa. Does Vertonghen want to be fourth choice central defender? Or a makeshift full back that does not suit our system, just as Thomas Vermaelen proved during his time at left back.

Look, I am no transfer snob. I want our squad to be improved upon and the better players we have, the better our chances will be at the end of the season. But apart from our striking options (minus Lukas Podolski) we look pretty strong all over the squad, even if the fringe players make like a tree.

Gervinho and Winterburn expect a strong challenge for trophies next season, I certainly hope so. Oh and lastly Arsene is devastated because Mario Gotze, a player that was always out of our reach had extended his deal at Dortmund. Now there is a player I would have liked to have seen in the red and white of Arsenal.

And that is about the size of it for today.

Back again tomorrow.