Last night’s performance means that Arsenal will win trophies this year.

By 1970’s Gooner

While chatting over dinner the question was put to Arsene Wenger by some of the Arsenal directors:

“What would you do if we gave you £100m to spend on new players?” His answer was of course very revealing: “I would give it back to you”

Judging by last night’s excellent performance against Newcastle he was right.

You are only as good as your bench. This old football saying is very true in today’s highly demanding Premiership where the road to deliverance is like a marathon where every bit of each team’s components is tested to the full.

The components necessary to win trophies include not only ability, strength, determination, will and tenacity.

What is also required is a pool of players who although not usually expected to be named in the first eleven every week are nevertheless capable of performing at the highest level when they are called upon.

This is vitally important when you take into consideration injuries, loss of form, suspensions and international tournaments like the Africa Nations Cup which inevitably force managers to rely on all of their squad.

This was therefore an important match for Arsenal Football Club.

It was the litmus test that the young guns had to go through so that they could convince Wenger that there is strength in depth in this squad and that there is no need to spend any of that £100m that was offered to him by the Board.

And these young guns will be called upon on many occasions this season as the injury list will not go away and the Africa Nations Cup is slowly getting nearer.

One aspect that seems to characterize this new Arsenal side is the real strength in depth that exists in the squad. And by real I mean that this squad has quality replacements in all positions.

Take for example the forward positions. Bendtner’s wonderful performance last night culminated in another excellent headed goal for the Arsenal.

He has proved that Adebayor’s departure for a month at the Africa Nations Cup will not be that painful. The same goes for Eduardo who will need these games to acclimatise himself with English football even more by then.

Look at the wide midfield positions where along with Hleb and Rosicky there is Eboue who has shown last night that he is a wonderful and powerful winger on an equal if not higher footing than them.

He would of course fill in at right back when required. And there is young Walcott who will, with more concentration and experience, be more than a viable alternative.

Consider central midfield where Diarra is the snitch of the year at £2m! Not to mention Denilson who is fast becoming the next star after Fabregas.

Song who although played in central defence is to me a very promising central midfielder. I rather rate him in that position having watched him put in an excellent performance for Charlton away at Man Utd last season.

Look at Traore and you think that you are seeing double. So mush resemblance to a young Ashley Cole and Gael Clichy is uncanny!

There are indeed a lot of choices open to Wenger.

When I suggested in one of my preseason postings titled: “Strength in depth eases Wenger’s team selection worries for the coming season” that there was a lot of strength in depth in the squad there was a lot of negative reaction from some readers who wanted Wenger to buy big.

Now no one is complaining.

I do not need to go on. But this performance last night has convinced me that Arsenal will win trophies this season.

Please note the use of the plural.

Keep well.

Arsenal’s transfer kitty is still bulging

By 1970's Gooner

Arsene’s dealings in the transfer market so far are creating very large surpluses of cash that are burning a big hole in his pockets. I calculate that net cash generated from transfers in and out since the window opened are as high as £26m!

They may soon find their way, I hope, on new signings. There's not many days left for the window to close afetr all.

First it was Henry’s sale to Barcelona then Ljumberg’s disposal to West ham and then Reyes’s transfer to Athletico Madrid. The latter for reportedly £8.1m which will bulge the kitty even more.

Arsenal have this annoying policy not to disclose transfer fees paid for players nor related financial arrangements such as players wages and other details. Quite shocking really considering that the company is quoted in one of London’s prestigious Stock Exchange Markets.

Nevertheless the original terms of Reyes’s transfer to Arsenal have been reported by the press at the time. The then 20-year-old winger was signed from Sevilla in a four-and-a-half-year deal worth up to £17.5m.

It was revealed that Arsenal would pay an initial £10.5m with £7m to follow depending on appearances and “add ons” conditional on Arsenal winning the Championship, domestic cups and the Champions League. I presume that Arsenal will have already paid the additional amounts agreed for Reyes’s appearances and for the trophies won during the time he grudgingly spent at Highbury.

We can therefore assume that there will be no significant amounts of money to go out from the £8.1m fee to be received from Real. On the other hand there will be no savings from his future salaries that Arsenal would have paid had he stayed on. The alternative to this transfer would have been another loan deal where his wages would have been met by the club taking him on.

Looking at the net cash generated from transfers in and out since the window opened I calculate that this kitty is as much as £26m!

Transfers in:

Sagna £10.1 (fee £7.5m plus wages for two years reported at £2.6m)
Dudu £10.6 (fee £8m plus wages for two years assumed at £2.6m)
Fabiansky £2.0m (wages not known but assumed not significant)
H Nordveit £2.0m (wages not known but assumed not significant)

Total £24.7

Transfers Out

J Aliadiãre £1.5m (wages not known but assumed not significant)
T Henry £ 29.0m (fee £16m plus wages for two years reported at £13m),
F Muamba £ 2.0m (wages not known but assumed not significant)
F. Ljungberg £10.2m (fee £3m plus wages for two years reported at £7.2m),
J. A Reyes £8.1m (no saving on wages assumed as explained above)

Total £50.8

In order to compare like for like this calculation takes into account not only the transfer fee but also two year’s salary to be paid for the players brought in and similarly the salary saved for the players transferred out. A two year horizon is chosen even if Henry’s contract had four years left because Ljumberg’s contract had two years remaining.

In a comment on a posting on the same subject it has been correctly pointed out to me that Henry’s merchandising income should also be factored out. This is difficult to gauge.

However account has to be taken that sales of shirts etc will in part be switched to other Arsenal favourite players. It has been reported that sales of shirts with Fabregas on the back were much more evident during the emirates Cup than before. In addition merchandising sales will go up due to the new players coming in like Eduardo for example.

Still it’s a bulging kitty which ever way you look at it. The question that begs itself is will Wenger buy any more players? The money is there!