Sebastian Squillaci on the Brink, Theo Walcott Growing Up for Arsenal

Good morning, there's good news for Arsenal fans today as Sevilla confirmed they have accepted a bid from the Gunners for defender Sebastien Squillaci.

It's fair to say the central defence situation is one that has been playing on the minds of many Arsenal fans for a little while now. Three senior central defenders are not enough to get through the season with, especially with Arsenal's knack for picking up injuries. Arsene Wenger has been aware of the problem, and stated several times he was looking for the right candidate to bring us up to a full complement.

Squillaci is an interesting choice because it's not obvious where he'll fit in the pecking order. As I said a few days ago when his name first came up, I really don't know that much about him so I'm not going to start pretending to be an expert now, but the stats tell us he has played for top European sides in Lyon and Sevilla for the last four or five years, and came on for Monaco in the 2004 Champions League Final.

He's also a regular in the France squad, though I'm sure like most members of that team, he'd prefer that not to be brought up at the moment.

That's a much higher profile résumé than a lot of Arsenal signings have when they come to the club, and I think it entitles Squillaci to be confident of securing a starting place in the Arsenal team. If we accept that Thomas Vermaelen is a nailed on starter for the team, I think we will have a situation where we have three good centre halves competing for the second starting place.

Genuine competition for places is something that's been missing at Arsenal in recent years, and it's such an important part of getting the best out of players. All our defenders will know now that they have to be at their best or there will be good players waiting to step in. Hopefully, that in turn will encourage an improvement in standards.

So with the defence situation dealt with, Arsene Wenger can turn his attention to the last outstanding bit of transfer business to be done before the transfer window closes, the one that all Arsenal fans are very keen to see sorted out, and that's the question of a new goalkeeper.

Sadly, I don't think it's going to be straightforward, because I think Mark Schwarzer is the only man in the frame and Mark Hughes seems determined to make things difficult.

Ideally, Arsenal would have Schwarzer signed and ready to face Blackburn this weekend but I don't see that happening. I could easily see the Schwarzer deal being strung out until the very last day and indeed the last hours of the transfer window.

In the grand scheme of things, provided we do sign a goalkeeper in the end, it's not a catastrophe if they're not in place for the Blackburn game. Arsenal are capable of winning up there as they are. Memories of Fabianski having a bit of a nightmare up there at the end of last season are bound to cause fans some concern but I don't see Saturday's game panning out the same way as that game did. 

That game was lost due to a lethargic performance from Arsenal as much as anything else in my opinion, and I don't see the team being lethargic for an early season game with everything to play for.

A lot of talk is revolving around Theo Walcott this morning and rightly so following his superb performance against Blackpool. Arsene Wenger says that Walcott has improved and now has the composure to use his frightening pace to devastating effect.

I personally think that Walcott has more in his locker than just pace, as we saw on Saturday he is capable of some great finishing. I think the time is fast approaching for him to be moved into the middle. Despite his pace, he is not a winger, he is most certainly a striker and I think it is time for him to be played as one.

Walcott himself has been talking about the hard work he's been putting in to make the necessary improvements to his game. He says he's been one of the last to leave training, working on his set pieces and crossing. We've already seen that he's cultivated a dangerous free kick, and his all-around improvement is there for all to see at the moment. It's up to Walcott to keep it up.

So that about wraps it up for this morning. I would expect confirmation of the Squillaci deal from Arsenal to take a little while longer, as the medical is yet to happen (or may be happening as I write this) and there's all the usual publicity and stuff for the club to sort out. We may get the official word a bit later, or we might have to wait till tomorrow. Time will tell. In any case, have a good day, and I'll be back tomorrow.