World class midfielder joins Arsenal first team very soon… « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade

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By Walter Broeckx

Last day of January? Take a deep breath and relax. The sun is shining, the snow is going away. Why worry, why be so nervous?

When the rest of the World is looking at all the possible moves of football slaves (be them well paid slaves) I decided to take a look at the internal transfer market of Arsenal. The new signings that are already signed a long time ago. The return of the injured players. And also have a look at the squad and the fact that well if we don’t let some players go we can only buy or get English players in.

Let us start with the squad itself. We are allowed 17 non-homegrown players and for the moment we have 17 of them. So forget all the talk and rumours about well anyone that is mentioned. The bus is full, no more place for someone for the moment. Unless we sell someone from those 17 but if not that’s the way it will be. If we like it or not is another question. But the rules are the rules and we could argue that they are not fair but it doesn’t matter. The rules are the same for everyone.

But let us have a look at players that could be called new signings. Players that should return from injury in the next weeks or months. But lets hope it will be weeks.

One world class player will be like a new signing. Jack Wilshere. Did we miss him or did we miss him? I think we did. I can’t wait for the day to see Jack and Aaron play together. Even when just 16-18 years old they could destroy the opponents in Carling cup games. Because of injuries they actually never have been playing together a lot. The most memorable game they did play together was our 1-0 win against the later champion Manchester United. Having Jack back would be a great thing as it would mean that the other midfielders like Ramsey and Arteta would be able to get some rest. Even with the set back the date is still the end of  February.

The other player that is holding the record of being injured most is Diaby. The “offload him” favourite by some fans. He sure has a serious health problem. A big guy but what happened to him in his first season at Arsenal is still throwing a big shadow over the last years. 1 May 2006 was a dark day for Diaby. He then got kicked to pieces by some stupid moron and ever since that day it has been almost impossible for Diaby to remain fit. He underwent three surgeries to repair the injury and was told by doctors that the injury could possibly be career-ending.

Despite all the hard work it still could be the end of Diaby at the real top. Further kicks, like at Chelsea last season, made him suffer more operations. But now Diaby is back from this week and the hope is that he will be able to play again by the end of February. I really think it will be a make or break final months for Diaby. On his day he can be immense for the team, lets just hope that he recovers completely this time and we can see the real Diaby for the rest of his career at Arsenal. And writing a player off because of injuries is always easy to do. But let us remember Robin Van Persie. For years he was injured for half of the season. But was he worth the wait? He sure is.

Another come back later boy is left back Santos. A bit unlucky in his first game I would say, but then again joining in a new team and having to start right away was not an easy thing to do. But with every game he became better and better. For someone who cannot defend (as some use to say) I though the did rather well. The second half display against Chelsea was the turning point in his early days at Arsenal. Since then we knew we had not just a quality player and defender but also a player who is not afraid to attack (he is Brazilian after all) and who can score a few goals (having scored more goals so far than Clichy ever did in his 5 or 6 years at the club). Somewhere in March he would be back. And sure would love to see him back.

Let’s move on the right back position. Bacary Sagna has just been on for his first minutes after his broken ankle at White Hart Lane. Chosen as the best right back in the EPL for a few times. Who could argue what a good player he is? I love him a lot as a player that always goes on the field, doing his job in a quit way without big fuss but always giving it all. Let us be careful the first weeks with Sagna because he still looked very rusty against Villa when he came on. A missed kick that almost caused a problem and it was clear to see that he needs some game time to adapt to the pace. But with his mindset I’m sure he will be back at his best like he has been for the past seasons.

Those are 4 players that when fit can claim their place and for those who doubt Diaby that are 3 players that are really important and bring something to the team.

And then we also have two youngsters who also have just started training again with the rest of the team. Jenkinson and Gibbs at right and left back could be ready somewhere this month. If all goes well (and with Gibbs you never know) Gibbs will be first on the team sheet in the next weeks. This would mean that Vermaelen can go back in the centre and give Wenger some headache. I sure wouldn’t want to choose between Mertesacker (leader in the EPL stats of successful last ditch tackles), Koscielny (probably the best centre back so far this season) and Vermaelen (probably the best left footed centre back we had for as long as I can remember). But maybe we could spell the word “rotation’ in a few weeks time with our backs. That would be nice.

Arteta has been absent a few weeks and we did miss him. But he was back against Aston Villa as a sub this weekend so the hope is he will be fully recovered by now and let us hope that he can stay fit at least until Jack is completely fit. And who knows even then we could be having some rotation in midfield without losing too much quality? Having a possible choice between Song, Arteta, Ramsey, Wilshere, Rosicky (another risen from the ‘always injured’-list), Benayoun, and new and fresh and upcoming talents like Coquelin and next season we will have even Frimpong back in action. I even could have put up Oxlade-Chamberlain in that list because he can play in the middle of the field also. Even Yennaris could be in that list as he is not a right back but a midfielder.

And up front we will have two extra strikers back in a few weeks. One will be back very soon as Morocco is out of the African Nations Cup. The other one might be playing the finals with Ivory Coast. But if The Ox keeps on playing like he does for the moment I think Gervinho will have a bit task of getting back in the team.

So by the end of February we should be able to almost field a completely different team with all kinds of players coming back from injury. They could feel like new signing and I really think that their injuries (and certainly the combinations of them all together) has cost us a lot in terms of points.

And about a real new signing, the 19 years young German Thomas Eisfeld seems to be a done deal. An attacking midfielder in the mould of Thomas Mueller from Bayern is the description I wrote about him. He gets his chance at Arsenal to prove himself in the next months. I kind of like German players as they always show a great work ethic. And if Wenger thinks he can make it, who am I to disagree. What do I know after all.

And for the rest I will just wait and see and tomorrow I will support my Gunners. Whatever their name may be, wherever they may come from. Just do your best and I will support you.

Enjoy the rest of this mad day I would say and don’t forget: last season in this time of the year £85M was thrown away for two players that produced nothing at all. £85.000.000 and then we even don’t talk about wages. Madness….