Fast-forward to Saturday 1 September 2012. Having failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League the previous season, the transfer window has slammed shut with Arsenal’s captain and talisman Robin Van Persie hot footing it to Barcelona, after a drawn out transfer saga that has lasted much of the summer, leaving the Gunners with little or no time to sign a replacement.
Back to the present day and Arsenal still possess an outside chance of finishing fourth. But Van Persie, with just one more year left on his contract, is more likely to fancy his chances of winning silverware at the Nou Camp or fellow admirers Manchester City after eight, mostly pot-less, years at the Emirates.
If, and it is still an ‘if’, Van Persie leaves it will no doubt fuel Gunners fans to ring up any radio phone-in show that will listen to label the move as further proof of the club’s falling stock in English football. But would the North London club be as worse off as first feared without the deadly Dutchman?
In Jack Wilshere they have a player in which to mould a team around. The loss of Wilshere, to injury for the whole season, has arguably hit the team harder than the sales of both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri last summer. The young midfielder has proven he is more than comfortable playing at the highest level, having not looked out of place amongst pass-masters Xavi and Andres Iniesta as Arsenal beat Barcelona 2-1 in the last-16 of last season’s Champions League. Wilshere has also made his mark on the international stage, so much so that experts are still, optimistically, hopeful that the 20-year-old will play some part in this summer’s European Championships.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is another who has shown, in just a handful of first-team appearances, that he is the real deal. The former Southampton trainee is reminiscent of a young Wayne Rooney, not just in his broad physique, but also for the way that he tramples over more experienced opponents’ reputations with little or no regard. Not too much should be read into the forward’s brace against an inexperienced Blackburn backline at the weekend but his performance against Manchester United’s Patrice Evra seven days previously prove that the Englishman is ready for regular first-team football.
Of course if Van Persie does leave the capital the Gunners will need to replace his goals. Oxlade-Chamberlain will chip in with his fair share but with Theo Walcott showing no signs of growing out of his infuriatingly inconsistent form Wenger knows Van Persie will have to be replaced. A target man such as Fernando Llorente would fit the bill perfectly while Porto’s Hulk could be another option and both wouldn’t have to break the bank – a fact that will most please Wenger.
Granted, Wenger will need to strengthen in key areas if they are to end their six-year wait for a trophy but the Gunners have more than enough in their ranks to be a force once more even if Van Persie decides the grass is greener in Catalonia or Manchester. The bigger question will be whether Wenger is given even more time to construct another great side or if the disgruntled voices of a possible Van Persie sale will persuade him to try his hand at managing elsewhere…. the Bernabeu perhaps?
