Arsenal Transfer News: Sol the Third

Good morning. A few bits and pieces to get through this morning, so let's get down to business. It emerged yesterday that after looking very likely to join another club this summer, it looks as though  Sol Campbell may well re-sign with Arsenal for the new season.

After securing his wedding and honeymoon off it would seem Sol is now very open to another season at Arsenal. There are good and bad aspects to him staying—I'll start with the bad, so I can cheer myself up with the good afterwards.

So, on the negative side, Sol is 36 and it's a legitimate concern to question whether he has the legs for a full Premier League campaign. Granted, he probably won't play every week, but the fact remains he's not getting any younger.

Also, I think if he does sign with us then that will represent the end of our defensive signings (with the possible exception of a goalkeeper). I know some may hope or suggest that we will keep looking for another defender, but four central defenders is the number the manager likes and if Sol comes back then I think Vermaelen, Koscielny, Djourou, and Campbell will be the defensive hand the manager sticks with.

That would leave us short of the sort of defender I think most Arsenal fans were hoping we might sign this summer, a real dominant and top-quality centre-half to partner Thomas Vermaelen. Koscielny is an unknown quantity, but physical presence is something he lacks for the moment. I think perhaps he needs to do some work in the weights room.

On the plus side, though, I must say I'd be delighted to see Sol stay at the club. Last season he came in and showed up a number of our squad who seem to be coasting through their careers. 

He did that by coming in at the age of 35, having won almost everything in his career, with an impressive work ethic and real determination. It's clear that the younger players see him as something of a leader in the dressing room.

Strangely, I don't seem to remember him being viewed like that during his first tenure at the club, which would seem to indicate that his time at Portsmouth was very good for him as a person.

Sol was one of the best players Arsenal had on the pitch in his games last season. There's no reason to think he can't bring the same quality to the team, albeit less regularly, this season. He's an important player for Arsenal, on and off the field.

I think he's opened the manager's eyes to the shortcomings of some of the youngsters in the team, as well as the value of having experienced players in the squad, so in the long run, Sol's return has been very good for Arsenal indeed.

Moving on,  John Cross   of The Mirror writes that should we fail to sign a goalkeeper (namely Mark Schwarzer) then Lukasz Fabianski will be installed as number one.

I can feel my heartbeat accelerating just typing that.

I don't wish to be damning about one of our own players but I see no case for Fabianski being made No. 1 whatsoever, I'd rather we stuck with Almunia if that was the choice.

At this moment in time, Fabianski is not only error-prone, but he doesn't command his penalty area and his defence have no faith in him. You have only to look at the Blackburn game at the end of last season to see how that damages us. Blackburn basically pinned a bullseye to Fabianski's jersey and targeted him with high balls into the box, knowing he was good for a mistake and easy to bully off the ball.

I would add that those are not unfair tactics; I would expect Arsenal to do it to a team with a suspect goalkeeper if we had anyone good enough in the air to threaten a goalkeeper.

I think putting Fabianski in at No. 1 is the worst thing we could do with the goalkeeping situation at the club. I'd rather put Mannone or Szczesny between the sticks if it came to a choice between our current goalkeepers.

There's plenty of talk that we're still in for Mark Schwarzer. I don't advocate panic buying at over the going price for any player, but the price we seem to be looking at is £3 million to £4 million for Schwarzer. If it's either that or Fabianski then they can have it on one of those giant novelty charity cheques if that's what Fulham want.

After all, it's not just the value of the player, it's how much he's worth to the purchasing club and Arsene Wenger and Arsenal, much as they hate paying anything like more than a player is worth, need to recognise that our need is great in the goalkeeping department. I hate to say it but at this moment, Mark Schwarzer could easily be worth three or four million pounds to us.

Moving on, Jack Wilshere is eager for more first team football this season. He says, "I just want to play, I haven't spoken to the boss yet, so I'll speak to him and see what happens.

"My loan spell was good overall. I got some games under my belt and that was the main objective of it, to come back with some more experience.

"I think when you play you are used to it and it makes you want more, so you come back even more hungry."

The right attitude certainly, though I can't see Jack starting every game for us this season. Still, 18 years old, being paid thousands a week, both club and country looking at you as the future—things aren't going too bad for Jack at the moment. 

The manager has laid down the challenge to Wilshere to use this preseason to stake his claim, and he keeps going like he has in the two games so far then he's got every chance. I must say, I don't see him going out on loan at this stage. It's clear he's got something to offer our squad this season.

Arsene Wenger is upbeat about the injuries that Denilson and Bendtner are recovering from, and it sounds like they may well be in contention for the start of the season. Good news, I could do without injury crisis 2010/11 starting just yet. It's not good for my health, let alone that of the injured players.

Speaking of Arsene Wenger, the boss has targeted a solid start to the new season. A reasonable target; there are a few tough games in there but I don't see any reason we can't get some points on the board early.

It's a bit of a cliché but it's very true that the league cannot be won in the first few months of the season, but it can be lost. I don't wish to overemphasise our first few games, but if you're playing catch-up from early on then it makes it difficult to mount a strong title challenge. We should assume our rivals will be starting strongly, so we must target the same.

Thomas Vermaelen also believes we can compete for the top honours this season, and if we are to do so then he will be a critical figure. With the central defence berth next to him very much up for grabs between the other defenders, it will fall to Thomas to provide a bit of stability and consistency in defence.

And finally for today, Arsene Wenger is conscious that Robin Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas will struggle to be at their best for the big kick off. The World Cup Final was, after all, not even a fortnight ago, and we're close to the new season. It would be unreasonable to expect either Cesc or Robin to come back properly rested and refreshed.

I'm sure they will play against Liverpool if at all possible, but after such a short break between last season and this, there is a possibility they may struggle for a while.

That about wraps it up for today then. Take it easy, and I shall return tomorrow.