The unfortunate injury to Samir Nasri has cranked up the “Arsenal out of the top four” rhetoric. Of course Nasri is a good player and had a great début season with the Arsenal, but I don’t think it’s wrong to say that we are more than adequately stocked in Nasri’s position —whatever his position is, I’m not even sure of that —.

I would expect any amongst, Rosicky, Arshavin, Walcott, maybe even Barazite, or Wilshere to do the job, as long as Arsene doesn’t play Denilson on the left then we should be fine. Anyway 2-3 months out at this stage should not be a “hammer blow”, in reality it’s not more than an irritating setback.

By the time Nasri is expected back we would not yet have played 10 games.

The pundits would have you believe that this is the death knell for Arsenal trophy hopes, with the obvious City replacing us as the champions league team. I don’t share this view, partly because I am a biased Arsenal supporter, partly because it feels similar to the summer of ’07 when Henry was sold and we where doomed to failure yet almost won the league.

The main reason why I feel his will be a great season is because with the exception of Adebayor the team has been kept together and I don’t think his (Adebayor) sale has necessarily “weakened” the team. In fact you can argue that getting rid of Ade has the effect of strengthening the “team”.

The return of Senderos, if he is indeed retained, with the purchase of Tommy V. — yes Tommy V, let’s see how long it will take for sky to take up this moniker — has brought competition for places at the back, which is always a good thing.

The only question mark is over the defensive midfield area. Now this is a concern for everyone including the boss, the problem is who can we get that would improve the squad. There are names out there, but most are either unavailable or too expensive.

To make one thing clear when I say too expensive it is from the point of benefit/cost. For example Ronaldo for Madrid is only marginally too expensive, the footballing and commercial benefits should be close to his transfer fee and wages. Whereas Arshavin was very cheap even without considering the financial benefits to the club. — anyway I digress.

Should we spend £30m on a DM just because it’s available? I think not. I would not be happy if we had spent £25m on Melo, just because the money was there. Only players like Essien is worth that amount and Melo is certainly no Essien, how many players like Essien are there? Precious few, although we had Flamini and Dolphin head who are just what we need now…

So as far as I can see we are only a DM short of trophies and who is to say that Song and Denilson cannot improve over last season.

I’ve always held to the thought that with the youth of our team, a summer can make a big difference. Two recent examples are Flamini and Adebayor, both had their best season for Arsenal come after a season of indifference. I fully expect one or two of Diaby, Denilson, Walcott, et al to have their coming of age this year.

Anyone who thinks Arsenal will be out of the top four is sadly mistaken, we more likely to win the title than to drop out of the top for — mark my words.