A lot to be done in the transfer market

So at the start of the summer Arsene stated his first ambition was to hold on to our star players... well since then we have lost a Alex Hleb whether this will be a loss or a gain is up for debate. He was integral to a lot of Arsenal's forward moves, however his stats do paint a very poor picture of his effectiveness. 10 goals not many assists and we have a higher win record when Hleb did not play! This said I don't think Wenger wanted to lose him and his skills were unmatched within our squad, we have the passers but Hleb was brilliant on the ball although he was maybe guilty of slowing down our fluid football at times. Lets hope Nasri can balance the skill and speed.
We had already lost Flamini, another player Wenger wanted to hold on to and who knows about the Adebayor saga? Although this seems to have settled down somewhat.

Gilberto leaving was probably more expected so I am sure Wenger was not as concerned about this departure. That said Gilberto would have made a very good mentor to our younger players, is a fine example of a professional footballer, and was always a calm head on the pitch. His experience really would have been useful within our young squad so based on this Gilberto will be a loss to our squad, despite his faltering performances on the pitch last season.

Lehmann to Stuttgart means we have a lot less competition in the goalkeeping ranks, and in my opinion we still need to sign a goalkeeper, but unfortunately Wenger does not agree. Despite Mad Jens's outbursts in the media he was also a consummate professional in his football approach, on his departure Fabianski paid credit to his personal debt to Lehmann, so that is yet another experienced player from the squad, and one for our younger players to look up to gone.

With transfers out reading;
M. Flamini - A.C. Milan, Free Transfer
J. Lehmann - VfB Stuttgart, Free Transfer
A. Hleb - FC Barcelona, Undisclosed
Gilberto Silva - Panathinaikos FC, Undisclosed

and transfers in reading;
Aaron Ramsey - Cardiff City F.C., £5 million
Samir Nasri - Olympique de Marseille, Undisclosed Fee
Francis Coquelin - SASP Stade Lavallois Mayeene MFC

there is a serious deficit in ready first team players. All outgoings could have easily stepped into the first team, where as we are not really sure about Ramsey or Nasri just yet although I am sure Nasri will quickly make the transition into the first XI, Ramsey will probably be CC, whilst Coquelin is only one for the future.

I think when Wenger mentioned having to bring in some experience he was talking about replacing Gilberto and Lehmann, in terms of experience within the squad and calm head dressing room, however he also needs to bring in top quality players, especially in central midfield. Although talented I don't think Denilson, Song, or Diaby are ready for a starting berth week in week out just yet. But they will certainly have a huge role to play in the coming season, especially if we only bring in one central midfielder, considering we have lost Flamini, Diarra, and Gilberto since the start of last season, opportunities will be up for grabs so it will be interesting to see who stakes the best claim when given the chance.

In my opinion Wenger still needs to bring in at least 3 more signings. A couple of experienced players as well as a highly talented player ready to step into the starting line up when required, we don't need squad players (unless Wenger changes his mind on bringing in a CB or GK in which case I would welcome a squad player in either positions) but we really need a world class CM to partner Cesc, Barry seems to expensive, and I'm not sure if Alonso is the man for the job. A utility player would be excellent, someone who can fill in across the midfield or defense would be great, depending on their quality of course.

In Arsene we trust, so we must kick back and see how the transfer window pans out... would prefer sooner rather than later as most players have started the pre season training now and it's always better to have your new signings as a part of this. There is still some work left to do for Wenger, I just can't wait to see who it is... why does Wenger do this to us?