This January Transfer Window is Perfect for Arsene Wenger's Magic Hat

This article may seem a bit premature. It comes hours before Arsenal takes on Aston Villa in a massive game for both clubs in the battle for the Champions League spots in the English Premier League.

I have a feeling that Arsenal can nick a win today; but regardless of the result it is obvious that the chequebook will have to come out at the Emirates if the second half of the season is to be better than the first.

At this moment in time Arsenal are without the services of Kolo Toure, Theo Walcott, Eduardo, Tomas Rosicky and of course captain fantastic Cesc Fabregas, each of which would be either assured of or pushing for a starting place in the Gunners' first eleven.

Fabregas and Rosicky could well be out for the season, while it remains to be seen how Eduardo and Walcott return from their respective layoffs.

The feelings of this Arsenal fan, and I am sure of many Arsenal fans, is that Arsenal have a good squad but an average first team.

By saying this I mean the likes of Song, Diaby, Denilson and Bendtner are decent players and can do important jobs for Arsenal. However, they are still developing and are not yet ready for the starting births they are currently getting at Arsenal on a regular basis.

In recent weeks there have been numerous calls for Arsene Wenger to "buy big players for big money and fast".

I only feed into one of the three criteria above and that is for Wenger to spend fast. It is of little use for Wenger to do what he did in the last transfer window and only come in at the end to try and get players. If you need players, and want them, go get them.

Hell, go get them now. If Real Madrid can showcase two new signings before the transfer window has even opened then why not Arsenal?

It would be hugely beneficial for Arsenal if Wenger can get players in early January so they can settle into London and the team and hopefully hit the ground running.

As for "Spend Big, Buy Big" I'd rather Wenger sticks to his guns on this one. Since when did Arsenal fans want to be like Chelsea, Spurs or Liverpool?

Rumours over the last week suggest that Arshavin is on his way to North London for £20million. While he is a decent player I doubt his price tag. Xabi Alonso may be worth £20million, but not Arshavin, who disappeared for Russia in the semi-finals of the Euros.

Regardless, if Wenger feels Arshavin is worth £20million then that is fine and if that is so, hopefully he can do a job for Arsenal.

While some Arsenal fans have been moaning about the lack of "big names" arriving at Arsenal that doesn't bother me. Wenger is not sucked into this idea of buying players just to sell names on the back of replica shirts and that in my view should be applauded.

While I must admit to be a bit saddened that Wenger did not buy adequately in the summer I would be a lot more angry had he wasted £20million on Robbie Keane or £30million on Berbatov. Samir Nasri for £12.7million is more like it in my view.

Of most of the top managers in the world, Arsene Wenger has a knack for signing players who are largely unhearlded for a relatively low price and getting them to do a brilliant job for Arsenal.

There was once a guy on the bench for AC Milan who got little or no game time. In the summer of 1996 Arsene Wenger spent £3.5million to lure him away and offered him a first team spot. This player went on to win Premier League doubles, became an integral part of the Invincibles and won the World Cup and European Cup during his time at Arsenal. I don't need to tell you that this was Patrick Vieira.

Wenger has repeated this with Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka, Emmanuel Petit, Fredrik Ljunberg, Kolo Toure, Cesc Fabregas, Gael Clichy, Robin Van Persie, Carlos Vela, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Bacary Sagna to name a few.

Who would have thought these players would play such important roles for Arsenal when they first arrived, largely unheard of?

Combined these players cost Arsenal £34.5million, now tell me that is not impressive!

My point is that Arsenal need some strength in depth to the squad. So while other managers may need £100million to sort it, I believe that Arsene Wenger can do it for £30million.

And what better time to pick up some bargains than this January? With the recession there should be some nice sales to be picked up. Wenger doesn't like spending big, he doesn't have the money to spend big and he doesn't need to.

This January could be very quiet in transfer goings-on. Wenger said that football would not be unaffected by the global recession and he was right. You see, his masters in economics is useful!

Manchester City aside there are very few English clubs with money to spend.

West Ham have today announced some of their top players have to be transfer listed. Manchester United in all honesty don't need to spend and either way must decide if Carlos Tevez is worth £30million.

Chelsea, yes Chelsea, have to sell to buy (ha ha) and Liverpool do not look good at all financially.

So you have Arsenal—the club that refuses to throw money around willy-nilly at any player that comes available—who may well be the most busy in this transfer window and snap up some of the bargains that could well come available as other clubs who spent over the odds now need to balance the books.

Arsenal don't need big name players, we need experienced players who can do a job for a club.

So while Liverpool paid way over the odds at £20million for Robbie Keane who has tried hard to little effect for the reds, it would certainly not surprise me for Arsene Wenger to get three players for this money in the January transfer window who can do a great job for Arsenal.

Just six more days to go until we begin to see if Arsene Wenger is wearing his magic hat.