Deadline Day - Is Wenger giving us the rope-a-dope?

Article by e-Arsenal Correspondent Andrew Given

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've been trying so hard over the last 7 days not to report on speculation regarding Arsenal in the transfer market but i can't resist it anymore, i have to write something.

A wise man once said, "Being an Arsenal fan during the transfer window is like having to stay inside while all your friends go out and play", poignant and exactly how i feel this week.

I completely understand Wenger's philosophy in the transfer market, quality over quantity, but if you have a brief nose through our squad it feels very thin on the ground. We have a solid first team who play smart, flowing, attacking football but when it requires tweaking things start to go awry.

Take Chelsea for example, they also have a solid first team but when it comes down to mid-season and players start to get tired or injured they have a selection of suitable backup options. I think i could be safe in saying that if Chelsea or Man City were forced to rotate their entire first team they both could still field a world class squad.

Arsenal are not capable of that.

I'm not saying, "Just go out and spend money willy-nilly", but i am saying that we need to get to the end of the transfer window tonight and buy more than one player.

So where do we need strengthened?

I'd go so far as saying that we need 3 new players. To begin with we need a back up striker, we've got Bendtner but he most defiantly isn't enough. We need a Walcott replacement and we need a Ramsey replacement.

We have been linked with a few strikers since the window opened, Berbatov, Diego Costa, Morata, Tello, Vucinic and, most recently, Klose. But who might be most likely?

Wenger's stance on a new striker seems to be only in the short term, which makes me think that he has a plan for the summer using our deep pockets to pick up Diego Costa or possibly even Radamel Falcao. So at the moment i understand why we are looking at loaning someone.

With Osvaldo moving to Juventus (Possibly) i can see a loan move for Marko Vucinic being quite likely. I don't think Morata or Tello would be a possibility since both teams, Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively, are fairly short on striker options themselves.

The other short term option could be Mirosalv Klose, he's not a youngster anymore being 35 years old but is experienced and is still scoring goals for Lazio, also with the "German Revolution" that Arsenal are experiencing at the moment, Klose might be a more influential target than Vucinic.

With Aaron Ramsey's sensational start to the season he is being missed in our midfield currently and with the news yesterday that he is out for another 6 weeks we should be actively seeking a replacement. Ramsey is good on the attack but i think we should be focusing on a more defensive midfield option this winter. Flamini has been a revelation for us so far but is out for the next 4 games after the red card incident at Southampton on Tuesday.

We have been consistently linked with Blaise Matuidi from Paris Saint-Germain who would be exactly the sort of player i would like but i sincerely doubt that PSG would be willing to let their man leave.

The big news this morning is we are expecting Swedish veteran Kim Kallstrom at the club shortly for a medical. Bit of a shock i have to say. To be perfectly honest i forgot he even existed until reading the news earlier on and then got slightly nostalgic remembering buying the man for Arsenal in Championship Manager 2001/2002. Since leaving Lyon 2 years ago he's been playing in Russia for Spartak Moscow and is looking to move on Loan to London.

Lets see if that one happens.

Finally, who can we get to replace Walcott? the short answer is.... Drum roll please.... Julian Draxler, are we going to get him? who the hell knows?

Reading though the news regularly i have been bombarded with both Yes and No reports. One second he's in London for a medical and then the next second the deal isn't happening. Wenger has given us a big fat "Nope" on the issue but what if it's all misdirection, a sly ruse to put us off the scent and then surprise us with it later on?

He could be trying to get the media hounds off his back while getting the deal pushed though by saying that it isn't happening. Honestly this is just how my mind works, I'm a complete optimist and my mind will think of all sorts of hopeful schemes to try and remain that way.

He really does look like an Arsenal player, Smart, quick, decisive and would fit in our first team right now but is Wenger going to pay the asking price? 37 million is an awful lot for a 21 year old but i think it would be worth it, as we've seen in the past, if we don't snap him up now someone else is bound to.

Writing this now on my lunch break there is 11 hours of transferring left to be done, lets wait and see what our Wenger has up his padded sleeves for us.

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