Oh dear Arsene, what are you going to do? Felipe Melo has signed a new contract extension, which explains the transfer buzz that was created around him, at Fiorentina to whom will you turn now that your primary target has probably got a hugely inflated escape clause surrounding him?

Well, step forward Lorik Cana of Marseille. Don’t hold the fact that Tottenham are reportedly interested, against him; even ‘Appy ‘Arry can be right sometimes. You’ve got loads of room at London Colney now that eight youngsters have been released so what is stopping you? After all, a million of the YouTube generation cannot be wrong. Can they?

Things may be moving along as we speak in any case. Arsene was quoted in French newspaper, Le Dauphine , so he must be in France either sorting out the signing of Karim Benzema or Cana’s. Quite probably though he was on holiday when he put forward his rationale for not signing a contract with Real Someoneelsesmoney:

Real was directed towards the football-spectacle. But another dimension exists: to have success by building a team with a style, a know-how, a culture of play specific to the club, to young people. It is that one which I chose. I am in a construction project with a young team. I want to go to the end. My pleasure comes from seeing them practising the football which I like

Or to put it another way: Real wanted to spend shedloads of cash which demands immediate results and even with the players that are signed, they still won’t achieve global domination and I’ll end up sacked. Actually, I prefer Wenger’s more prosaic and less cynical version. There was a report earlier in the week that suggested coffee drinkers are more positive in the morning so perhaps I’ll give that a go, rather than my usual ten cups of tea.

Back to Wenger. He is often derided as being parsimonious and turned off by spending huge sums of money on players. He set about demolishing that one:

The sums can appear shocking, but they are the result of a calculation carried out by the investor. It is necessary to disregard moral judgement and to question of profitability of the operation

There is that element of it but football is not like that. People get envious when huge sums are splashed around, not wanting to be left off of the merry-go-round. However when demanding that vast sums are spent on one or two players, quite often those who are already at the club are ignored. The quality that exists at Arsenal is underrated by our own supporters at times yet envied to a degree by supporters at other clubs who recognise that the time of delivery is upon us. In the ‘I want it all, I want it now‘ world of football, patience is a virtue in short supply.

Defensively, if Diaby really is bulking up with a personal trainer, we may be a lot better placed than is believed. Like Song and Denilson, the Frenchman divides opinion in much the same way Flamini did before having his season in the sun in central midfield. Before that, Flamini had shown he was a useful squad member and nothing more, certainly not good enough for the first team on a regular basis.

Diaby suffers the same problems as his predecessor. Rarely played in central midfield, rarely played for more than a game or two there when he does come in. All players need bedding in time and he has to an extent been his own worst enemy, injuries bedevilling his Arsenal career. It is the fitness issue which needs resolving. If Diaby is to live up to his potential, he needs to be available for more than thirty games in the Premier League. That has not happened thus far.

Elsewhere, the third kit is being widely acknowledged as well, pants. Which I have to say, I disagree with. There is nothing wrong with a white third kit since it will be worn, well, once or twice at the most and frankly, it could have been a whole lot worse. How? Look at Newcastle’s away kit for answers. Or the United home kit. Or their new away kit. Christ, it’s white and frankly you cannot go much wrong with white.

’til Tomorrow.