And at the heart of it all is an eighteen year old Spaniard named Cesc Fabregas. The opening goal and an assist for Thierry Henry’s second tell only half of the story. Fabregas has run the show and, in the process, dominated the midfield battle with former Gunners skipper Patrick Vieira. A 90 minute changing of the guard. For Arsenal fans this is just a glimpse of what is to come. This was the night they knew.

Reports in the Spanish media suggest that Cesc Fabregas will hold talks this week with Barcelona manager Tito Villanova in order to gauge an understanding of his role in the club’s plans following his exclusion from several key matches and the arrival of Neymar from Santos. Some say then, that reports linking Cesc with a possible return to the Emirates are a product of lazy journalism. A case of putting two and two together and getting five. Why would he leave the club he had so desperately wanted to return to? Why leave at the start of World Cup year when playing with the likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Co. week in week out has seen him become a mainstay in the national side?

On the other hand why should one of the best players of his generation star against the likes of Real Zaragoza but be restricted to cameo roles when the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or AC Milan come to town? And with the well-documented ‘buy-back clause’ seemingly in place, surely North London would be the only realistic destination for the midfield maestro? The truth remains clouded.

What is clear though is that the significance of a return to Arsenal would be huge. To the oil billions of Paris or Manchester Cesc would be an important signing, a statement of intent. To The Arsenal it would mean so much more. It would revitalise a playing squad, arguably lacking in leadership and creativity, two of Fabregas’ greatest strengths. It would appease the fans whose faith in their club is wavering, in the same way that Jose Mourinho’s messianic return to Stamford Bridge has lifted their supporters (and racist captain). It would leave teams across the country quaking in their boots at the prospect of trying to contain a midfield of Cesc Fabregas, Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla (I’ve done it on FIFA, unstoppable).

Yes Cesc is a phenomenal footballer, but Arsenal have always been blessed with those. What Arsenal have lacked since his departure (and arguably even when he was here) is a leader. Cesc never barked at his troops in a Mr Arsenal, Tony Adams-style but my word did he lead by example. That penalty against Barcelona with a broken leg. The countless times he turned up and was unplayable against that lot up the road. The game-changing cameo from the bench against Aston Villa. His match-winning performances in wins over United at Old Trafford, Chelsea at the Emirates and Milan in the San Siro to name but a few. And of course, right at the start of it all, the night the boy became a man, Juventus at Highbury.

To get an understanding of the disappointment we feel all summer, every summer, take a look at these two recent headlines that I’ve had the misfortune to read, ‘Roo fancies Arsenal move!’ and ‘Arsenal trigger Fellaini’s release clause’. How can you not get excited about those two? Then the disappointment filters through your body as no official word comes from Arsenal.com. I think that anybody who saw the Fellaini headline must have been seriously excited. A tough tackling, no-nonsense, strong, tall midfielder that at 25 is reaching the peak of his career is exactly what we need. As beautiful as Arteta’s hair is, he is not the tough-tacking holding midfielder we need to compete for the title. He needs somebody like Fellaini (or Song who’s transfer I still can’t understand) to compliment him. So I waited. Waited some more. Waited some more. Still no official word from Arsenal about any kind of deal. The circus begins again.

Do not think that I am one of those pessimistic “we never sign anyone, WENGER OUT” fans. I live in Plymouth and despite the costs and 5:30 AM starts I still make it to a few games each season. Despite the RVP saga last summer and the bizarre selling of Song when he finally matured into the brute we needed and had hoped for, last summer was actually a good one for us. The signings of Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla provided much needed hope for us all and I think they all delivered. Podolski and Giroud are now adapted to the English game and should hopefully kick on to greater heights next season. Lets not forget the little wizard as well. I could wax lyrically for hours about the two-footed genius that is Santi Cazorla. What a player. This triplet combined with what injury free seasons for both Jack and Gibbo and a hopeful return to form for Vermaelen means there can be much optimism for the coming season.

I still believe that we will make signings this summer, however all we’ve done so far is sign an unknown 20 year old called Yaya Sanogo and even this hasn’t been officially confirmed yet. I really do hope this summer we sign the top quality players we need to transform us from top 4 hopefuls to title challengers. My perfect summer would be to sign Rooney or Higuaín, Fellaini, Grenier, Abate (as a replacement for Sagna) and the promotion of youngsters like Eisfeld and Gnabry. These really would transform us into title challengers and hopefully winners of a domestic cup. So let us despair, rejoice and gasp at some of the ridiculous rumours that will be read in the coming weeks. Whilst I may hate this time of year, to my detriment I am completely obsessed by it. This is due to the hope that eventually that beautiful, joyous, greatest of days will happen. The official Arsenal twitter page will post a link to a confirmed transfer. Or the sun will come out.

For me and I’m sure for most of you as well, this is the most boring time of the year. The football season is now well and truly over and pre season doesn’t start for another month or so. The only sporting event of note that I can think of is the under 21′s European Championship. England have already lost their place in this years championship after losing their opening two matches against Italy and Norway respectively, so there is almost no point in watching that competition anymore. There has yet to be any transfer activity but as per usual we are linked with every name under the sun, but they are never signed. Already this week I have read stories about how deals for Higuain, Jovetic, Fabregas and Fellaini have already be agreed. I’ve even heard one audacious story from a friend’s, girlfriend’s, uncle’s, friend (not the most reliable source I must admit) that works at Emirates Stadium who claimed to have completed the medical of Wayne Rooney.  Ivan Gazidis has been saying this week that we can afford to pay a transfer fee of 20 million with wages in the excess of 200k a week, which excites me but at the same time, i just can’t see it happening. Arsenal lining up with Fabregas, Fellaini, Rooney, Higuain and Jovetic all on the same team is just too good to be true.

As much as I would love to see us make some marguee signings I believe that this summer is going to be much of the same, linked with hundreds of players but we won’t sign anybody. However I do think that Wenger did quite well last year in recruiting Santi Cazorla, Oliver Giroud and Lukas Podolski. Cazorla has been an absolute revelation this season. Giroud, well whether you love him or you hate him, I think he has done well this season and can only improve. Podolski  for me has been disappointing because  although he has done well, I expected so much more from him. So these three players do perhaps show a change in Wenger’s transfer policy of recent years and if this summer he again signs players of this kind of stature, I’ll be pleased.

My predictions for next season are yet again we will struggle to get into the top 4. I can only see the teams around us strengthening and Tottenham can’t keep messing it up forever. I also predict another trophy-less season but I actually don’t mind that. I don’t mind that we’re not winning trophies, it just saddens me that we’re not competing for them. Yes we’ve been in the champions league for 16 years in a row which is an incredible achievement, but we all know we’re not going to win it which is annoying. I don’t think it would take many players to transform our team into a team that can win things. If we bought a Cavani, an Isco then why couldn’t we challenge for silverware? BAut I think until we buy some big name players I can see us just going round in circles. I’ve renewed my season ticket for the 2013/14 season and I can’t wait for it to get underway!

When I first started Arsenal Zone I had no idea we’d manage to get over a million hits in just over a year, and the site continued to grow beyond my expectations, slowly climbing up the ladder of most popular Arsenal sites on the internet. Unfortunately it became too expensive to run in the end, but now things have changed and here we are giving it another shot.

We shall be looking for a lot of new writers to join us ahead of the new season in August so I’d encourage anyone who’s interested to contact our new Twitter account here.

Thanks for your support,

Arsenal Zone Founder,

Richard Miller.

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Arshavin then made it three before Walcott proved his goal-scoring credentials by scoring himself. Coventry managed to full one back,but Ignasi Miquel scored at the other end two minutes later to restore the four goal margin. Arsenal were rampant with a another goal from Theo Walcott wrapping up a convincing 6-1 win.

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There will be a mixture of youth amongst the established names however, Serge Gnabry, a talented 17-year-old German attacker will hope to play some of the game. Many at the club believe Gnabry is one of the most talented players to ever come through the Arsenal system and their are murmurs that he could well find himself part of the first-team set-up even by the end of this season. Nico Yennaris, Thomas Eisfeld, Francis Coquelin, Martin Angha and Kris Olsson are all Gunners products that will hope to be involved.

One of the most notable players that could feature is Emmanuel Frimpong, the 20-year-old Ghanian had only just returned to first-team training after suffering a serious knee injury in February while on loan at Wolves that led to him missing several months of action. Frimpong was so eager to return to playing that he managed to convince Arsene Wenger to include him in the squad, despite the Frenchman wanting to wait a couple more weeks before giving him a chance.

Team News

Injured: Fabianski, Szczesny, Sagna, Rosicky

Unavailable: Wilshere (match fitness)

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

Predicted Team

———————–Martinez——————–

Yennaris–Djourou–Koscielny–Santos

————————-Coquelin———————

———–Eisfeld—————-Chamberlain—

Walcott——–—Chamakh——-Arshavin

Predicted Score

A hard match to predict considering the changes Arsene Wenger will make but I’ll be hoping for a 3-0 win for Arsenal.

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That return would likely have come before the 20th October but an international break during the two weeks before that date means Wilshere will have to wait a while for his come back. There’s a small chance he could be included in the England squad that plays Euro 2012 qualifiers during that two week period, but Arsenal are likely to make it clear to the FA that they do not want him to be selected for those games.

The club are currently weighing up the possibility of scheduling some friendly reserve games during the two week international break in order to get Wilshere up to full match fitness as quickly as possible, a decision will be made after the club see how he comes through his first reserve game. The club are very hopeful that Wilshere will return in time to face Norwich in less than a months time.

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