As the official Arsenal website crowns Thierry Henry as Arsenal’s greatest ever player via an online poll, it’s easy to look back at the last time Arsenal were greeted with Premier League success.

The invincibles season.

Looking back the squad we had then it was simply immense. There’s just no other word for it.

I know some of you look at the squads of Chelsea and Manchester United and think they’re on another level. But in 2004 when we lifted the Premier League trophy the same could be said about us.

The first team was outstanding and the players who would come in if we suffered injuries were just as good. So Arsene’s arguement that bringing in new players will effectively ‘kill’ off young talent is slightly flawed. Our squad back then was filled with talented players.

Our starting line up would consist of; Lehmann, Lauren, Campbell, Toure, Ashley Cole, Freddie, Vieira, Gilberto, Pires, Bergkamp and Henry. But we also had Wiltord, Edu, Kanu, Reyes (in January), Clichy, Parlour, Keown and Cygan waiting in the wings when required.

We also had the likes of Bentley, Pennant, Fabregas and Senderos making an impression in the reserves during that season.

Strength and depth are vital in today’s game and with Gilberto, Flamini and Hleb departing (as well as the aging Lehmann and Diarra in January) then our squad does seem to be a little thin at the moment.

Obviously, Gilberto and Lehmann could be considered over the hill but Flamini is a loss which ever way you look at it. Hleb was either loved or hated and while £11.9 million isn’t a bad return it’s still an experienced player leaving the club. People will say he never scored enough goals or made enough assists (although Hleb fans will point to his pre-assist rate) and he didn’t give enough to the first team but you wouldn’t really kick him out of the squad would you?

I realise that players want to play every week and that puts pressure on the manager but success almost suppresses this problem. Wenger didn’t have a problem rotating the invincibles squad simply because we were winning things. It’s the same with Manchester United at the moment. They have to drop either Anderson, Scholes, Giggs, Hargreaves or Carrick in every game but you don’t hear a peep out of them when they’re on the bench.

Everyone has high hopes for Samir Nasri but you have to give the kid a chance to get used to life in England, and the same can be said about Carlos Vela. And then there’s Aaron Ramsey – the Premier League is another step up and he will need time.

The jury is still out among Arsenal fans as to who should partner Fabregas at the heart of our midfield; some people are pointing to signing an established player, such as Xabi Alonso from Liverpool or Gareth Barry from Aston Villa, while others think it’s time for Denilson or Diaby to step up and prove their credentials.

What do I think?

I would be surprised if Arsene brought in Alonso or Barry to be perfectly honest. All the noises coming from Arsene are about giving youth a chance and that simply comes in the form of either Denilson or Diaby. No-one would have predicted Flamini being a major player last season, especially considering the outstanding form of Gilberto in the previous campaign.

We’ve been linked with so many players this summer, such as Santa Cruz, Arse Shaving, Eto’o and Huntelaar, but I just put that down to silly season in the press.

I truly think Arsene might have concluded his transfer dealings this summer.

With Adebayor looking almost certain to stay I would be completely shocked if we brought in another forward now. To be honest, even if Adebayor did leave I don’t think Arsene would have replaced him. Arsenal create so many chances, possibly the most in the league, and when Eduardo does return we will have 4 top quality players who can play up front – Bendtner, Eduardo, Van Persie and Theo Walcott.

But there’s till a while until the transfer window closes on August 31st so we could always get another last minute transfer like when Gallas joined us in the 11th hour two years ago.

Finally, we have official confirmation that Samir Nasri has joined Arsenal for an undisclosed fee.

I haven’t really mentioned anything about him since you don’t know what can happen with transfer dealings these days but now he’s finally arrived here’s a video compilation of the kid in action to whet your appetite!

And what a fantastic compiltion it is as well. Although you’ve probably already seen it if you’re a regular user of YouTube.

Another great thing is apart from the fact he seems like a very skillful player, the guy actually shoots too!

Nasri said on his arrival at Arsenal:

“This is a very important step in my life as a footballer because Arsenal is a massive club.

“Arsene has a great reputation and he is one of the best managers in the world. He has proved that he puts a lot of confidence in the young players and he gives them a chance.

“It was very important for me to have such a great manager to work with and I’m really looking forward to working with both Arsene Wenger and all my new team-mates.

“I can play in the centre or on the wing. During my career, I have played behind one or two strikers or on the left, or the right hand side.”

I’m already excited about this guy!

It’s also been confirmed that the little Frenchman will be wearing the number 8 shirt, taking over from Freddie as the last person to wear it. Let’s hope the kid has the same sort of impact the Swede had when he joined the club.

Videos

Samir Nasri #22 Compilation [watch video]

With Alexander Hleb looking almost certain to join Barcelona and apparently Arsenal ‘offering’ Emmanuel Adebayor to AC Milan then why not try and prise the two Brazilians Kaka and Ronaldinho?

Obviously it sounds completely absurb but hear me out for a second.

Kaka is probably worth something crazy like £50 million (which would beat the world’s most expensive transfer of Zidane for £46 million) but with their debts from only qualifying for the UEFA Cup let’s face it AC Milan could do with the money. You can tell they’re hard up when they poach Flamini from us on a free.

Buying Kaka outright is out of the question but it becomes a different proposition when Adebayor is involved. The Togan is valued by Arsenal at around £36 million, so even if we drop our price to say £30 million then Kaka could technically be purchased for about £20 million if we did a swap deal plus cash.

And he really would be the perfect player for Arsenal. He plays all his football on the ground, is technically outstanding, has a fantastic engine and his pace is phenomenal.

Seriously, will we get a better chance of signing a truly world-class player again?

Arsenal have something Milan want so why not try and use that to our advantage? Hell, throw in Hleb and Eboue as part of the deal as well!

Unfortunately all wishful thinking, but we can dream can’t we?

And then we come to Ronaldinho.

I haven’t been following him as much as I usually do (the restraining order put a stop to that) but the impression I’m getting is that the player is all washed up and keeps on picking up injuries. He was at his peak from around 2003-2006 and since then has come off the boil. Apparently he’s been partying hard and we all know that in the 2006 World Cup he was anonymous.

But if anyone can get the best out of him it’s Arsene Wenger.

And a new challenge in a new league could just be what Ronaldino needs. You never really lose that kind of quality and although he is 28 years old surely he’s worth a punt. And I’m sure Arsenal’s valuation of Hleb is higher than Barcelona’s asking price for Ronaldinho (if there indeed is one).

His value has obviously shot right down since Barcelona have publicly announced that they want him to leave, but the main problem (as with Kaka probably) would be the outrageous wage demands.

You might baulk at the possibility of Kaka and Ronaldinho joining Arsenal but it’s no more far-fetched as the rest of the b*llocks half these websites are posting. If you’re going to start a rumour at least make it interesting…