Man City has found a happy hunting ground for desperate players who are looking to increase their retirement pay package... Arsenal.The North London club has lost its chief striker in Adebayor to the Eastlanders and looks set to lose their stand-in captain for most of last season Kolo Toure to the new found riches at Manchester. Incidentally, both Toure and Adebayor have been reported to be of bad influence in the dressing room, with a less than warm relationship with the fans and other players at the club. I wonder if this is a gimmick pulled by Arsenal to hide the regret and dismay Arsenal fans must be feeling at seeing their squad thinning out again for a new season.
It looks almost certain that Arsene Wenger is clearing his first eleven of the old guard, to which Adebayor and Toure belongs to. Next in line could be Eboue who is attracting interest from Fiorentina. Arsene has so far bought only one defender in Vermaelen, a Belgian international whom not many have heard of. Well, he could slot into Toure's position at the back. Eduardo Silva could probably become the main goal poacher for the Gunners and take over Ade's responsibilities alongside the promising and imposing Dane, Nicklas Bendtner.
The Arsenal team still has a lot of footballing potential in Fabregas, Arshavin and the returning Rosicky. Problem is Arsenal never seem to learn the fact that players get injured over the course of the season, and a paper thin squad is NOT going to win you the Barclays Premier League. This Arsenal squad has long been labeled as a team of kids. This season, they are no longer kids. They are full internationals who are expected and expect themselves to win trophies. Fabregas has already tasted sweet victory with Spain in the European Cup, he is widely expected to shoulder the leadership responsibility of the entire team. Whether he can change the trophyless streak of Arsenal for the past few seasons with such a thin squad is going to be the biggest test of his young career. And he is not getting much help from the management who keeps selling players but never seem ready to replace fast enough.
Another season in the doldrums i.e. a fourth place finish or out of the the top four will condemn Arsenal to losing Fabregas to Barcelona, and the likelihood that Arsenal will not be able to keep any of its major stars anymore to compete realistically in England or Europe. Surely, Arsenal must find some way to re-energize the squad. The team needs at least a new signing in defensive midfield and another leading forward to be considered worthy opponents to Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea. Hopefully, Arsene is allowed to reinvest the 25 million for Adebayor and the 14 million for Toure to getting a good enough player to complement a talented but underachieving team.
The Gunner fans are keeping their fingers crossed for the rest of the summer.
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