Yesterday we confirmed the signing of free agent Mathieu Flamini. He played for Arsenal between 2004 and 2008 before leaving, again on a free, to AC Milan.

Ever since our last trophy in 2005, our best every season was arguably the 2007-2008 campaign when we finished only 4 points off champions Manchester United. We finished 3rd that season but were top of the table for a lot of the season, until the infamous tackle from Martin Taylor who managed to smash Eduardo’s leg. After that, and the Gallas hissy fit, we lost our form and drew too many games in the title run in.

And that season we probably had the strongest midfield we’ve had in the “trophy less” seasons of late which consisted of Cesc Fabregas, Tomas Rosicky, Alexander Hleb and Mathieu Flamini. They midfield was young, dynamic, strong and most importantly hungry. They were playing in the style of Arsene Wenger and teams found it seriously difficult to contain them. Flamini was the steel, Cesc the playmaker and Rosicky and Hleb had pace and an impressive range of passing. Adebayor scored 30 goals that season, with Eduardo and Fabregas chipping in with double figures.

People will remember how close Rosicky, Cesc, Flamini and Hleb were off the field, and that togetherness was displayed on the pitch.

After that impressive season however, Hleb moved to Barcelona for £12 million and Flamini moved to AC Milan on a free. This was one of the earlier examples of how Arsenal were incapable of securing players long term and he was allowed to let his contract expire. Would things have been different if Flamini stayed? It’s hard to say but keeping the midfield together would have been a good base going into the following campaign.

And onto today, and Mathieu Flamini is now 29 years old. He played 122 times for AC Milan and the Italian side chose not to renew his deal, and in his final season last year he was on a one year deal on significantly reduced wages. His career in Italy was blighted by injuries and he didn’t make as many appearances he would have liked.

So will Mathieu Flamini bring back the glory days? Probably not, but he will be a useful utility player if we suffer injuries to the team. He can cover in midfield but also full back if required.

Not the exciting signing we’re all after, but better than nothing.

After a good win over Fenerbahce to confirm our status in the Champions League this season, the focus turns to the North London Derby on Sunday and the remaining 5 days of the transfer window.

And with the game with Tottenham looming as the transfer window closes, comparisons will inevitably be made between the two North London clubs.

Arsene Wenger has made virtually every excuse under the sun as to why we haven’t bought any players this summer. English clubs don’t want to sell to other English clubs, players are overpriced in the current market, we have important games to concentrate on, we will only bring in “special players” as we’ve already got special players in the squad. But despite losing Koscielny, Podolski, Wilshere, Ramsey, Vermaelen, Arteta and Monreal to a combination on injuries, suspensions and niggling problems, we have yet to strengthen our squad. Arsene has admitted several times we are “a little bit light” in terms of numbers but Yaya Sanogo aside, we haven’t brought in any recruitments.

There are reports that Tottenham are delaying the sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid until the last minute so Arsenal can’t strengthen their team with possible Real players before the North London Derby and it could be designed to even scupper any signings before the transfer window slams shut.

But all of these reasons are pretty pathetic really.

A club of Arsenal’s stature really should have planned everything far better. Every man and their dog knows it’s better to get players in early and let them settle at a new club (and possibly a new country) well before the season starts. Arsenal also had several perfect PR opportunities to reveal new signings – the new Arsenal away kit launch, the Asia Tour – Arsenal had a real chance to give the fans, the ones who pay the highest ticket prices in the country and have done for a long time, a massive boost.

People talk about being frugal and not going crazy but no Arsenal fan is asking for that. All we want is a team that can compete at the top and challenge for the Premier League. All we want is to at least look like trying and making an attempt to compete at the highest level. If we don’t succeed then fair enough, but making no purchases in a summer where we have the money to spend is criminal.

The money available is from the fans. We haven’t got a rich owner who has been throwing his money around and funding big signings. In fact we’ve got an owner who doesn’t throw anything around, and is apparently a mute. You may be thinking I am repeating myself but in a time when the country is on its knees and most people are struggling financially, then 8 seasons of paying the highest prices and getting nothing in return is hugely disheartening. I love Arsenal and try and see as many games as I can but one of the reasons I don’t see them more is the cost. On Arsenal Fan TV, a fan was interviewed outside the ground after the Villa game and he famously said “in life you get what you pay for, except if you’re an Arsenal fan”.

You get these fans that still go on about how Champions League qualification and paying off the stadium is all that matters, and in fact I’ve argued with a few of these people on Twitter. But that fact is that Arsenal fans have been hugely patient over the last 8 seasons and if Arsenal have the spending power to strengthen then team then they are obliged to do it. Arsene Wenger is a genius but he has to be less stubborn and assemble the best squad he can with the resources available.

Over the last 3 months we’ve all looked online regularly to see who we might buy. We’ve been linked with Wayne Rooney, Gonzalo Higuain, Stevan Jovetic, Marouane Fellaini, Lars Bender, Cesc Fabregas, Ashley Williams, Julio Cesar, Karim Benzema, Angel Di Maria, Mesut Ozil, Yohan Cabaye, Iker Casillas, Luis Suarez, Luiz Gustavo… the list is endless. But for all the speculation, it looks like our signings will be Yaya Sanogo and Mathieu Flamini on a free.

And in a summer where both players and fans have demanded signings, is that acceptable?

As the Gareth Bale to Real Madrid saga seems to be coming to a close, it’s hard not to see how things turned out so differently for Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott.

Both were signed from Southampton from an early age and both were courted by clubs such as Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal. But in the end, Theo went to Arsenal and Bale to Tottenham.

Both Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale joined Arsenal and Tottenham respectively as 17 year olds, Theo in 2006 for £12 million and Bale a year later for £10 million. And now in 2013, Bale is set to be the most expensive footballer in the world and move to Real Madrid, while Theo Walcott is still at Arsenal but is their highest paid player.

Both are blessed with exceptional pace which has been their main asset over the years but Gareth Bale has added power, guile and goals to his game whereas Theo hasn’t stalled, but reached a peak of his abilities.

It would be unfair to use Bale’s transfer fee as a base for comparison as even Tottenham fans must realised, the Welshman is grossly over-priced. £93 million for him is quite frankly obscene and the fact that Real Madrid’s have no accountability financially (excuse the pun) is disgusting. A player is worth what another team is willing to pay but you can’t tell me Bale is worth more than Falcao, who has consistently performed at the highest level for 4/5 seasons now. Bale has had one excellent season and 55 goals in 203 games for Tottenham is not in the same league as Cristiano Ronaldo. One think you do have to say about Tottenham is that they obviously have a chairman who is savvy and knows what he’s doing in the transfer market because if it were us, we’d probably sell Bale for about £35 million.

At this moment in time, there is no doubt that Gareth Bale is the better player. There was the famous story that he was going to be sold to Birmingham for £3 million in 2009 after a string of poor performances.

But, and I’ve made this point a few times before, for me Bale has had one outstanding season. Even Gary Neville said he needs to do it season in and season out to be considered world class. I would go as far to say Bale is overrated. Ronaldo was phenomenal for 3/4 seasons before he went to Real Madrid. It is one amazing piece of business by Tottenham.

For me, Theo Walcott has been the far more consistent player and been the better player over the last 5/6 seasons. Bale “set the world alight” with 26 goals last season, Theo scored 21. And when you put that into context, Theo’s record is more impressive. Added to 14 assists he got and considering he plays on the wing, Theo has contributed as much as Bale did to Tottenham last season. And 5 more goals is all well and good but Andre Villas Boas based the entire team around getting the best out of Bale.

The two seasons before last, Bale scored 23 goals while Theo scored 24. And Theo notched up 18 assists while Bale managed 17.

If you compare their records over the last 3 seasons combined, they read as follows:

Theo Walcott – 45 goals and 32 assists

Gareth Bale – 49 goals and 26 assists

And another factor is that along with playing in the Premier League, Theo Walcott has been playing in the Champions League every season while Gareth Bale has mainly played in the Europa League.

I’m not 100% sure about their goal scoring records against the big sides (Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal & Tottenham) but I would be surprised if Bale’s record is better in the big games. Off the top of my head I can remember a lot of goals from Theo against Chelsea and Tottenham in particular.

So there you have it, why Theo is the better player – and I’m sure that will still be the case in 2 years time when Theo is still performing for Arsenal and Gareth Bale is back in the Premier League.