Half a decade and empty: Will Wenger take the plunge at the Emirates?

Sincerity is easily the earliest to fail when emotions enter the room. At the Emirates, the fluid and exhilarating style of football can ride your emotions thin with praise and applause, but to be fair and I mean truly fair, another season without a trophy must surely elicit some disenchantment. And perhaps a purely “considerate” assessment of Arsene Wenger’s future with Arsenal would pop up in an agenda at the Emirates. In precise terms, the gunners have not won a trophy since the FA cup in 2005, a long time by any standard for a team with a pedigree that places it among the top teams in European football.

Globally acclaimed as one of the top tacticians in the modern game, a submission that has merited the tag Professor, his competence has never been in dispute, but the club’s transfer philosophy relies heavily on grooming young players. It has been disappointing when evaluated against a league that is as rugged as the English premier league. And the test is likely to get sterner in the coming seasons.  With Manchester City and Tottenham adding to the mix, even the traditional top-four finish offers no guarantees any more. A wise Professor should be tempted to weigh his options because the longer the wait for trophies, the more the likelihood that his reputation and ability would become the focus.

The reported £30 – 40 million available in the summer maybe too meager to prize top players to the Emirates, apart from Bordeaux’s Marouane Chamakh who already has a pre-contract in place worth a healthy £50,000 a week. The reason for is quite obvious. Liverpool is lined up for sale and with a nice buyer, up to £60 million maybe become available for new talents. Then Manchester City, if they quality for the Champions league and Chelsea with aged players are two teams with deep bent on becoming the pace-setters in the next transfer window. And Real Madrid! The task is Herculean and in the end, convincing Arsene Wenger to stay may turn out to be an excruciating task.