Sol Campbell: The Season's Most Important Signing

Arsene Wenger has signed many great players during his time at Arsenal. He also has the knack of letting his players go at the perfect time.

Somehow he just knows when the player cannot offer much more to his team and stops fighting when other teams come calling. But one thing he had never done was to re-sign a player he had let go.

That changed in January of this year as Wenger re-signed former defender Sol Campbell. Wenger had hoped that signing Mikael Silvestre would bring experience to the back four, but the former Manchester United man never lived up to expectations.

One fails to understand how Wenger could not have felt the need to sign a player who bleeds red and white, and Sol proved to be the perfect addition.

This signing seems to be the most important Arsene has made in the past several seasons. Arsenal needed some cover in the back but rather than heeding cries to buy a younger center-back he opted to bring in Campbell, the 35-year-old.

Some had their misgivings, but after seeing his performances on the pitch, one would agree that Campbell has turned back the clock. His presence has been brilliant and he has exceeded all expectations.

More importantly, he has been a player Arsenal have missed for a long time. Someone who understands the game perfectly, knows how to motivate his team, and is not bossed around by the bigger players in the league. 

His addition could not have come at a more crucial time. Without Sol, Arsenal would probably have not gone so close to the title and would have probably been fighting for fourth place like the previous season. 

The passion with which he has been playing is exemplary and the youngsters would do well to take a page out of his book. He has offered everything possible to this team now and it would be very much to Arsenal's advantage if they were to offer him a contract for the next season.

With the possibility of a new center-back coming in over the summer in place of Gallas, the Gunners would need Campbell's experience as a back up in the center of defence.

In the cup games where Arsene refuses to field members of his senior squad, Campbell could well make his presence felt.

Seeing the impact Campbell has had on the squad, one wonders if Wenger should seriously consider offering a season-long deal to Patrick Vieira, though he would be loath to even come lose to the wages being offered by Manchester City. Unlikely as it sounds, it would no doubt be a huge boost to the squad.

'Sol' literally means sunshine in Spanish and what a great ray of hope he has proven to be for this Arsenal squad. We all just wish he were 10 years younger.