Saturday, September 1, 2007

Just what Arsenal needed... or is he?

As the transfer window finally comes to a close, news of last-minute deals are filtering through, and in the middle of all the chaos Arsene Wenger has added a new face to his young squad in the shape of yet another youngster, Chelsea's 22 year-old Lassana Diarra!

Dubbed the new Makelele by many, Diarra's arrival is somewhat of a surprise to me. I know we've been supposedly after him for awhile, but I'm not sure the positives outnumber the negatives in this transfer. Arsene obviously sees the potential in this youngster - and trust me he sure does have a lot of it - and he joins a long line of kids vying to take the mantle left by one Patrick Vieira. Fabregas might have taken Vieira's number four shirt, but the resemblances all but end there. Instead it is Diaby who has come the closest to giving us a direct replacement for the Frenchman as they certainly share a similar body frame, and although Gilberto and Flamini have also occupied the role of ball-retriever, Diarra now comes in to presumably challenge for that place. It is this that worries me most, as it seems he has come in to fill a position that doesn't really need filling!

Diarra's arrival takes the number of central midfielders we currently have up to 7 - Gilberto, Fabregas, Flamini, Diaby, Denilson, and of course Song making up the rest! My first assumption is that some players might be deployed in other areas - a worrying prospect. We might see Diaby or Denilson being pushed to the left as we've seen in the past, and although Diaby did put in some good displays there, it is definitely not his best position. Another possibility which might be more likely is that we might start to see less of Flamini. He did seem to be on his way out of the club in the summer until injuries and Gilberto's excursions in the Copa America meant he would have to start alongside Cesc. His displays have been of a surprisingly high calibre so far, but were they enough to change Arsene's mind about him. This latest transfer would make you think otherwise. Gilberto's future is another one that comes under question now. I know he says there's no rift between him and the manager over the whole captaincy issue, but has Arsene just bought his replacement? Maybe Gilberto will be used more in defence as Senderos continues to disappoint. Of course, there's always the possibility that Diarra himself will be deployed in another position.

Although naturally a midfielder, Diarra has been deployed as a right-back by Jose Mourinho on many occasions. This, however, is highly unlikely to be the case in Arsenal. New-boy Bacary Sagna has already earned rave reviews and has adapted impressively to the way we play. We also have Justin Hoyte as cover and he's been improving gradually with every game. With that in mind, I can come up with one likely assumption. Arsene Wenger sees Diarra as a player with great potential, maybe even more so than any of our remaining young midfielders, bar Fabregas, and just could not pass up the opportunity to sign such a bright star no matter how many players we have in his position. His arrival will most likely mark the end of Flamini's Arsenal career, and will also pit him in a straight battle with Diaby and Denilson to take over from Gilberto when he eventually leaves. Let's hope this signing doesn't have a negative impact on the team's harmony and I wish him all the best as an Arsenal player!

A quick word on our Champions League group as once again Arsenal seem to have been drawn in one of the easiest groups. Seville are not easy to beat by any means, but we are surely expected to get past the other two with relative ease. Of course, Champions League games played away from home are always tricky and expect a more in depth analysis when those games come around. Any thoughts on Arsenal's summer spending? Please go ahead and share!

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