You’re Welcome to go Home, but You Can’t Stay Here: Possible Departures from Arsenal.

Earlier, I took a look at the players who might be signed by Arsenal this summer. Naturally, for there to be incoming players, there has to be departures. There has been numerous times, not only this last season but over the last few seasons where a large number of players have let us down with their sub-standard performances. For the most part, these inconsistent and mediocre players have gradually seen their squad roles diminish to the point that they are now nothing more than fringe, benched players who can’t be relied upon. Well, after our horrendous spring, Wenger and the board have promised new signings and have hinted at a change at how Wenger goes about managing the club. Well, because of this possible “change”, or maybe in spite of it, there’s likely to be lots of departures from Arsenal this summer, hinting at the end of an era for the club. For some of the players listed below, everyone wants them to leave. Others? Eh.. rather they stay..

GOALKEEPER:

MANUEL ALMUNIA: It seems weird now to think about it, but Manuel Almunia was Arsenal’s first choice GK at the start of last season. Well, a season later and the emergence of Szcezsny, coupled with Fabianski making himself useful have all contributed to Almunia being unwanted by Wenger, the club, and the fans, indicating it’s time to go for the Spanish keeper. Finding himself 3rd choice at the moment (4th choice, if you count Lehmann), it’s obvious that Almunia must go in order to re-start his career and for ourselves to lessen the wage packet. The only obstacle to his imminent sale are his large wages. The only clubs who would realistically sign would be a mid-table club in Spain, and apart from Malaga, there are few who would be able to match his wages. In the end, though, someone will buy him, and we’ll look back with a big ‘Thank you!’ across our mouths.

FULLBACKS:

EMMANUEL EBOUE: He had a pretty poor season, having some atrocious games at rightback and doing some pretty stupid things, such as needlessly fouling Lucas that eventually led to Liverpool’s penalty in our insane 1-1 draw with them at the Emirates. All of this, coupled with our recent purchase of Carl Jenkinson, could mean that the Ivorian will find himself surplus to requirements this summer. Q.P.R. have been linked to him, and if they come up with a reasonable bid then I can see Wenger deciding to sell the Emmanuel. If he does, then I think we can all look back at his spell at Arsenal fondly, because while he wasn’t always the best performer on the pitch (nor the second), he tried, and he kept his head down and kept trying. He was also a very loyal member of the club, never said any stupid things, and was always the first one celebrating with his team-mates. So, sport-wise, he’s bad, but he was (and is) a genuinely good team-mate and member of the club. It would be sad to see him go, but his departure wouldn’t hurt us much on the pitch.

GAEL CLICHY: Apparently he doesn’t want to renew his contract, and with Liverpool linked to him, perhaps it’s time for the sole remaining Invincible to leave Arsenal. And while he still carries a good reputation and is still held in high regard for his positive qualities, such as his pace, you can’t hide the fact that Clichy has actively regressed as a footballer over the last 2-3 seasons. Horrible lapses of focus and concentration, an almost incomprehensible inability to effectively play the offisde trap, and he’s starting to get easily beat by opposition wingers- all of the detriments in Clichy’s play that have harmed us numerous times this season. If he were to go, we would probably have to invest, because given his inexperience and injury woes, I just can’t see Wenger give Gibbs the starting spot.

CENTERBACKS:

SEBASTIAN SQUILLACI: It seems weird that a player who just arrived last season could possibly move on yet again, but when someone played as bad Squillaci did last season, who knows? He was by far our worst defender last season, what with his lack of concentration, lack of any impressive physical qualities, and no prominent leaderships whatsoever. In other words, a classic Arsenal flop. While it’s unlikely he’ll go this summer, if we pick up another centerback (like Vertonghen, for example), who would come in to start next to any of our other 3 centerbacks available, then Squillaci finds himself 5th choice- potentially worse if Wenger decides to give someone like Bartley or Miquel a chance. If he is unwilling to be the last option at CB for Arsenal, then he would have to go- likely back to France, where a club would be looking to give him another chance.

CENTER MIDFIELDERS:

DENILSON: A player who’s definitely going to leave, Denilson found himself being part of the least liked players at Arsenal and, well, his performances this season did nothing to take himself off that list. Apathetic attitude, non-existent offensive input, just bad play all around. Amazingly, Denilson himself took to the papers to declare his desire to leave because he was a winner who wanted to win things. Huh. Maybe we could have won something or at least gotten closer to winning something if you’ve been a bit more energetic in defending counter-attacks, eh Denilson? Anyways, let’s not get too bitter about this. The boy just couldn’t cut it at Arsenal, and the fact that deadwood such as Denilson are being allowed to leave is positive thinking on the club’s part. If we get anything higher than £10 million for him, it’s a steal.

ABOU DIABY: Of course, with Denilson leaving it’s more likely that Diaby will stay this summer but considering Wenger and the Board have promised “change”, what better way to promote said promise by off-loading one of our most inconsistent performers in recent seasons? On a good day, Diaby is a dynamic, aggressive box-to-box midfielder capable of some surging runs forward. Unfortunately, he has very few good days and there rarely is a long period of time where he isn’t injured in any way. At this point, the realization is starting to sink in that Diaby isn’t going to get any better and if Wenger is looking to invest in this area, then letting go of Diaby could be a good way to increase the transfer kitty.

ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS/WINGERS:

CESC FABREGAS: Cesc. See, his blood runs thick with a very special DNA, one whose base pairs aren’t Adenine or Thymine, but instead blue and maroon building blocks with Andoni Zubizarreta’s likeness superimposed on them. In other words, he has Barca DNA, dammit, and he has to go back home where
he belongs! Question is, do Barca have the dough to afford him? In a world where Jordan Henderson goes fo£20 million and Andy Carroll for £35 million, then a European and World Champions has to go for at least.. £40 million (although it really should be more). And this is where the biggest stumbling block comes in. We all know Cesc would like to go to Barca and Barca would love to have him, but is he really that necessary to them? They have publicly posted a transfer budget of £45 million, a value that by itself would be just be enough to afford our captain. On the other hand, Barca have other more pressing needs than Cesc. They’re on the market for another defender, and have sniffing for quite some time now for either Giuseppe Rossi or Alexis Sanchez (or both!), both of which would cost upwards of £20-25 million. In other words, they can either get good players on positions they have a need to attend to, or they can get Cesc. Besides, do they even need Cesc? Xavi is in his prime; Iniesta and Busquets have many long years ahead of them. Youngsters like Thiago, Sergi Roberto, and Jonathan Dos Santos are held in high regard over there, and signing Cesc would only stifle their development (geez.. I’m starting to sound like Wenger!). Wouldn’t it be funny, to have a promising youth player’s career be stifled by the expensive purchase of a former youth player? We all know Cesc would like to go, but we also know he still remains loyal to Arsenal and would like to win a trophy before he leaves. That, coupled with Barca’s financial dilemma, indicates that Cesc could very well stay at the Emirates for one more year. Which is what all of us would like to hear.

SAMIR NASRI: Never trust tabloids. Or any media claiming to have exclusive information or latest releases. Less than a week ago, it seemed almost as if it was a guarantee that Samir Nasri was going to bow out of contract talks and leave Arsenal, and worse, go directly to Manchester freakin’ United. This, of course, had the Arsenal fanverse in screams of hysteria and paranoia amid rumors that one of our best players of last season could go transfer to one of our biggest rivals. But lately, it’s been all quiet on the Nasri front. As each day goes by, it looks like the Frenchman will eventually resign, which is nothing but good for us. I won’t go into too much detail, because Homey has already talked about Nasri leaving, but if Nasri does leave then we will definitely have to get one or perhaps two players to replace him. And if he does stay, he will have to have a stellar 11/12 season, because it’s looking like his relationships with the fans has been strained.

ANDREI ARSHAVIN: Our enigmatic Russian had a pretty average season for Arsenal last term, despite highlights such as a wondergoal against Wigan and the winning goal against Barcelona in the first leg of the CL Round of 16 at the Emirates. But apart from that, Arshavin was plagued by accusations of laziness and lack of effort, not only by some of the fans but also by members of the Russian NT. It’s likely that if we buy a player in his position, then Arshavin’s place in the first team will be come under threat. As evidenced by Theo vanNasregas, Arshavin near the end of this season was reduced to a kind of super-sub role, and further signings could relegate him to the bench even further. If he is uncomfortable with this (and we really don’t know if he is at this point), then it’s possible he could go- former club Zenit have been linked to him. At the moment though, neither him nor his agent have said anything, and I’m banking on Arshavin staying for at least another year.

TOMAS ROSICKY: I feel for Rosicky. The way he played at the 2006 World Cup, it opened my eyes to the sport and, by extension, to Arsenal. His two goals against the USA were world-class, and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that Rosicky playing for Arsenal at the time led to me starting to follow the club
and eventually become a fan. With that being said, he has had a pretty terrible season this year, culminating in an abysmal performance in the Carling Cup Final, where we really needed him to produce the goods after Cesc got injured (against Stoke, no less). Rosicky is running dangerously close to being next to useless for us, and if we do get an attacking mid or winger like Gervinho or Hazard, then I can see the Czech’s time running out for Arsenal. He’s likely surplus to requirements right now, and a nice mid-table German club could use his services- I say let him go and revitalize his career elsewhere.

FORWARDS:

NICKLAS BENDTNER: Another confirmed departure, Bendtner has said he is “100 percent” certain of leaving Arsenal. And to be honest, with being constantly played out of position, frustrating injuries, and overall mediocre play, Bendtner really didn’t offer anything special to us this season- certainly not after a stupendous 09/10 season, where he seemed to have established himself into the first team and scored some crucial goals. Well, all of that progress seemed to have deserted him this term- he missed a lot of chances, most infamously the one against Barca at the Nou Camp, and generally looked as if he could give a crap. In the end, he’s going to leave, and I wish him luck wherever he lands, because I think if he had a bit more patience and stayed for a couple of more seasons, he could have blossomed into a really good player. Alas, goodbye Bendtner.

CARLOS VELA: He couldn’t get a game for West Brom, much less for Arsenal, and the Mexican forward finds himself at a cross-roads: his age (22) sets him up as still being young enough to be classified as a young, capped player in the first-team with potential, but he has maybe one more year or so before he’s going to find himself a washed-out prospect who never really made it. And with Arsenal being constantly linked to numerous forwards this summer, young Carlos could see his chances of snatching a first-team place or a role as first-choice backup to RVP being eliminated, especially if we get an established star like Falcao. He hasn’t really been linked to anyone so far, but maybe the player himself will decide to move on to try to get more playing time and remain in the Mexican NT. I’m on the fence for this one.

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Category: Transfer News and Player Movement, Transfers