I’ve mentioned previously that Arsenal fans won’t know who we’ve signed (generally) until it actually happens. Who knew Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud were going to join last summer? And we knew about Lukas Podolski early but once the deal was virtually done.

So that’s one reason why the recent rumours of Rooney, Fellaini at al won’t come to fruition. If we were going to get them it would have been signed, sealed and delivered a long time ago. Arsenal are generally well know for their high level of secrecy when it comes to transfers so the first we would have heard of it would have been once they had officially joined.

Another reason is that we know newspapers, agents and other related sources simply put out these rumours to engineer a move away from their clubs. There’s no doubt Rooney, Fellaini, Higuain and Jovetic are trying to make sure that they won’t be playing at their current clubs next season, but it won’t be for us either. Linking them to Arsenal is an easy story (especially with their new found “war chest”) and this is all designed to put all of the other clubs on alert that they are available for a price. It would be predictable to see 2 or 3 of the aforementioned players to join Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea or any other big clubs with money to spend.

Then we have the issue of our wage structure.

Theo Walcott was famously made our highest paid player as recently as January, after signing a new deal worth £100,000 per week. Our two best players that have departed over the last few seasons were Cesc Fabregas (who was reported to be on £80,000 per week and then £110,000 a week) and Robin van Persie, who was apparently on £90,000 per week.

Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and even Totteham Hotspur are paying more on individual player salaries per week. Despite the claims from Ivan Gazidis that we are capable of paying wages of over £200,000 per week, it is hugely unlikely we will do that with Arsene in charge. His philosophy is to reward young players with improved deals and bringing someone in on £200,000 a week (double what Theo is on) would, to Arsene anyway, cause problems in the dressing room.

Then we have our “appeal” to players.

It would be fair to say that of the 4 clubs in the Premier League playing in the Champions League next season (if we qualify) we are the least likely to win any honours, and (as mentioned) we have our wage structure.

In a modern game where money and trophies are king, we are distinctly second best.

Chelsea under Ranieri and Manchester City under Mancini show that players are willing to join a club that aren’t favourites to win the major trophies but happy to pocket obscene amounts of money in their weekly pay packet. Last season the Manchester City players couldn’t care less about winning anything, hence why they were so far behind Manchester United in the title race and lost to Wigan in the FA Cup final.

And finally, the biggest reason why these players won’t join Arsenal.

When it comes to the transfer market, Arsenal are notoriously tight-fisted when it comes to negotiating deals and “attempting” to buy players. This, coupled with the fact that once these failed bids become public (and other teams know we’re after specific players) then we don’t just lose out on the player, they end up joining one of our rivals.

We all remember the “derisory” bid we put in for Gary Cahill only 2 summers ago. We offered £6 million, Bolton publicly turned it down (as well as call us out in the process) and he ended up joining Chelsea for wait for it… £7 million. Granted it was in the January Transfer Window but you can’t deny that one or two more million on the £6 million we refused to increase our bid on wouldn’t have secured his signature?

Then we had a bid turned down by Valencia for Juan Mata, only for Chelsea to yet again purchase a player we were interested in.

We also had a bid rejected for Phil Jagielka by cash-strapped Everton in 2011 as well.

There are reports that we are unwilling to increase a bid for Fellaini (although I don’t believe we’re actually in for him anyway) and regardless of whether it is true or not, it’s clear that another big club (that will have more money than us) will come along and sign him up.

We are far too indecisive in the transfer market to bring one of these big name players. We are given a multitude of reasons why these deals are taking their time (with Rooney, Fellaini and Higuain in particular) but the fact of the matter is it’s taking time because they’re not coming.

Arsenal aren’t stupid – they know what the players are worth and how much the selling club want. If we really wanted these players we would have paid the asking price (or negotiated and agreed a fee in private) and had the deals done and dusted. But it seems we’re haggling over a few million, playing hardball and are destined to miss out on them once again (that’s even if we are in for them in the first place).

Ever since the confirmation of the new kit deal with Puma, and the other sponsorship deals Arsenal have in place, there is fresh optimism that Arsenal could actually do the unthinkable, invest in world class talent and win a major trophy next season. Added to that, with the three teams that finished above us this year; Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea, all undergoing managerial changes, Arsenal fans are thinking that this may finally be their year.

And how better to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of when Arsenal won the Premier League than to win it again next season?

Indeed the early signs are positive. It is well documented how Arsenal did in the last 10 league games of the season, winning 8 and drawing 2. And our defense has drastically improved, as in those last 10 games we kept 5 clean sheets and only conceded 1 in each of the other matches.

So defensively at least, we have something to build on.

But the biggest question is does Arsene Wenger still have the winning mentality inside of him?

The last time we won something was in 2005, the FA Cup against Manchester United on penalties. In that season, we did well to finish second and weren’t a million miles away from Mourinho’s new Chelsea side.

But that was 8 seasons ago.

If you take the recently retired Alex Ferguson as an example, he was a manager that instilled the winning mentality to all of his players. To him, winning was all that mattered. I’ve said so many times that he’s lead some average teams to the title not because he’s had squads with particularly special players technically, but because the players he did have would do anything to win. You’ve got players like Phil Neville, John O’Shea, Wes Brown and Johnny Evans who all have Premier League medals because they are winners. Every single one of Alex Ferguson’s squads was full of players with that winning mentality who knew what it mean to be playing for Manchester United, and the expectations that came with it.

But the biggest problem is even if we have a solid defense, and a massive war chest to buy real quality in the summer, do we have the mental capacity to even contemplate winning the title?

Arsene has created a culture where 4th spot is good enough. The players sometimes come out “officially” and say that winning things is the most important thing, but that isn’t what’s been happening in recent seasons. The few players at the club that I considered “winners” and having that passion you need to win trophies over the last few years were Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Jack Wilshere and Laurent Koscielny. And that’s not enough winners in a squad that has aspirations to win titles.

How does Arsene suddenly give the players the belief they can win something, and not just settle for 4th?

And how does he suddenly change his management into a style where he actually believes we can do it?

After so long without a trophy, it will be a massive ask to get the club into winning ways again. We all know from football in recent times that if football clubs want to win things after having a poor season they simply change the manager – because he will bring new ideas, new tactics, a new man management style and different ways of running the club.

Can Arsene suddenly turn himself into a winning manager once again?

That’s the million dollar question.

And unfortunately if you ask me honestly, I’m not 100% convinced he can.