What to make of the rumours of a mass exodus at Arsenal?

So far, it’s been a pretty underwhelming summer from an Arsenal point of view. After their failures last season the Gunners are in desperate need of adding to their squad if they are to seriously challenge for honours next term, a football bet bwin will give you long odds for. Yet, we’re into July now and most of the rumours concerning Arsenal involve players leaving the club, rather than joining it. Given that their longest serving player Gael Clichy has already left the club for Manchester City, it’s understandable that some fans are growing agitated. So is there genuinely this much discontent inside the Arsenal camp or has this negative energy mostly been cooked up by the media?

There’s been a fair amount of frustration amongst Arsenal fans concerning a recent story in the Press that suggested their winger Theo Walcott had become a major transfer target for Chelsea. That added him to a large list of players who were linked with a move elsewhere, or were agitating for a transfer. Amongst these players include Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Andrey Arshavin, Denilson and Nicklas Bendtner. It’s fair to say that these players make up the spine of this Arsenal side. If the Gunners can’t hold onto the majority of them, they will struggle in a big way next season.

Let’s face it: there’s not too much happening in the football world so it doesn’t surprise me that the Press are rummaging around for various things to talk about and conjuring up stories that have little precedent or factual basis. The same is even more true when it comes to Arsenal; fans are desperate to hear of their teams progress in the transfer market and latch onto any details available to them.

Arsene Wenger is not without his faults; this is something that has been made clear over the course of the past few seasons, but he is without doubt one of the most intelligent men plying their trade in the Premier League. He knows exactly how important particular players are for this Arsenal side and will have a back-up plan for each should they decide to move on. But who is likely to move on this summer? It’s fairly certain that Theo Walcott will remain an Arsenal player. He gets decent game time and has earned Arsene Wenger’s trust. Cesc Fabregas has courted Barcelona for quite some time but they appear to be unwilling to put up a fair amount of cash for his services and he’s under contract until 2015. Andrey Arshavin looks likely to remain an Arsenal player. Samir Nasri may well leave this summer, but given that he has already burnt plenty of bridges with the Arsenal faithful I’m not sure too many will mourn his absence. As for Nicklas Bendtner and Denilson: who cares? As I see it, rumours of a mass exodus at Arsenal are somewhat misleading. Wenger will be keen to keep hold of his best players and won’t let them slip through his fingers. The Gunners remain in a position of power over most of their stars and will be keen to build upon last season in the hope of success next year. For the time being I’d try to avoid too pessimistic an outlook and simply wait to see how Arsenal’s dealings balance out when the transfer window slams shut. Follow @ThePerfectPass on Twitter for details on all the latest updates and various football-related musings. ThisisFutbol.com are seeking new writers to join the team! If you’re passionate about football, drop us a line at “thisisfutbol.com@snack-media.com” to learn more. To have a peak at the top SEVEN available FREE TRANSFERS this summer, click here. Or to have a look at 10 ways a football lover can spend this summer, click here!