Bring on the Younger Guns

Last updated : 21 July 2005 By Kevin Archer
Whichever way you look at it, two facts cannot be ignored. Firstly, Arsène Wenger would not do anything to harm Arsenal's chances of success. In agreeing to the sale of our captain, he must have felt the interests of the club were best served by the captain's departure. Simple as that.

You can spend all year arguing one way or the other, and some people will. But ultimately, only one man is in possession of all the facts: Arsène Wenger. And if you don't believe Le Boss would have weighed up every possibility, balanced every pro against every con, before making such a difficult decision, then you must have been living in Timbuktu for the last nine years. Let's give the man the credit he deserves. No-one has done more to secure the future of Arsenal FC than Arsène, and to question his motives or his wisdom is nothing short of lunacy.

Secondly, until Roman Abramovitch is gripped by the joys of stamp collecting Chelsea will continue to exert a strangle-hold over the transfer market. The list of players magnetically drawn to the Russian's bank balance… sorry, desperate to become a part of Chelsea's glorious footballing history… grows longer every day.

How is Wenger going to take on a club that has unlimited funds and isn't afraid to use them, whatever the implications (and the rules) may be? Just look at Chelsea's midfield: Cole, Lampard, Robben, Makelele, Duff, Wright-Phillips, Geremi, Smertin, Tiago, Jarosik and Diarra, with the promise of Essien to come, at £30m. OK, the front-line is nowhere near as strong, but with £50m in his other pocket, there's every chance Mourinho will eventually land Shevchenko.

Wenger cannot compete on a financial level. Not in the short term, at least. I certainly don't want this to look like the waving of a white flag - I'm as keen for the Premiership trophy to return to Highbury as the next supporter - but there's only one way to challenge a club that has unlimited resources, and that's to re-build from the ground up.

Wenger will use the money from the sale of Vieira to fund younger, fitter and (dare I say it) hungrier players. Of course, discovering and nurturing hidden talent is precisely where Wenger excels. There will be a temptation to buy more experienced players, to support those coming through the youth ranks - Olivier Dacourt is now being mentioned - but anyone over 30 will be acting as little more than a stopgap.

So don't be too surprised if some high-profile names follow Paddy out of the transfer window. Pires has already been linked with a number of clubs, including Galatasaray, and there is even talk of Campbell leaving, in part-exchange for Jermaine Jenas. Both moves seem unlikely, but they would free up the funds for younger replacements.

One thing is for sure: 2005/6 is going to be a transitional season for Arsenal FC. It signals our last season at Highbury, and our move to one of the world's greatest football stadiums. It will also be the year in which older, more experienced players gradually give way to the next generation, until the average age of the team drops through the floor.

If we can pick up trophies along the way, great; if not, we have to accept that Arsène Wenger is responding to Chelsea's growing threat with the only thing that has more impact than money - and that's the power of a young, dynamic and success-hungry team.