Van Persie's departure need not spell doom and gloom for Gooners

van Persie had said goodbye to Arsenal, but Wenger's squad can push on to future success

After yet another long drawn out transfer saga involving Arsenal, Robin van Persie has finally completed his move to Manchester United. While the Dutchman is undoubtedly a fantastic addition to Sir Alex Ferguson's artillery, the move has piled the pressure on his former manager at Arsenal. The captain's departure from the North London outfit has yet again left people questioning whether Arsene Wenger is taking the club in the right direction. But while I have often disagreed with Wenger's policies and philosophies over recent seasons, I feel that this time, all is not lost for Arsenal. As long as the exodus ends now. 

That could be a big ask as already Alex Song seems to be lining up a move to join another former Gunner, Cesc Fabregas, at Barcelona. But if Wenger can manage to keep him at the Emirates Stadium the Frenchman may finally be able to build a team good enough to challenge for trophies within a couple of seasons. Any sooner than that is simply unrealistic but it is not beyond the realms of possibility that Arsenal could be in the title race again by 2014. How, you ask? Consolidation has to be the way forward. Unlike last season, when Wenger let Fabregas and Nasri depart late on in the transfer window without having much time to sign top quality replacements, Arsenal have already made some astute purchases this summer. Before their 29-year-old talisman left, the squad had already been bolstered by the purchases of Germany forward Lukas Podolski, France striker Olivier Giroud and, perhaps most excitingly of all, Spain midfielder Santi Cazorla. With these three genuinely top notch footballers in the squad, Wenger's men still have plenty of potential.

Over recent years Arsenal have sent out all the wrong messages to their rivals and supporters in the transfer windows. In the past seven years five captains have been sold, as before Fabregas and van Persie the French trio of Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and William Gallas all left despite being Wenger's choice to captain the squad. The latter of those may have been a less important figure as he wasn't the greatest defender Arsenal have had and had caused plenty of controversy with his off-pitch, and sometimes on-pitch, behaviour. But the first two were true legends of the game, let alone the club, and both could have offered at least a couple more years of service to Arsenal. Both went on to win more trophies in Europe, something which we are constantly reminded Arsenal have failed to do since Vieira sealed the 2005 FA Cup with his last kick as a Gooner. In this period the club have fluctuated in form but have consistently finished either 3rd or 4th in the league and been knocked out of Europe by around the quarter-finals or last 16 stage. Solid, but a long way off spectacular.

Of course, it is not only captains that have departed the Emirates stadium with plenty of petrol still left in their engines. Mathieu Flamini, Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure, Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri have all chosen to leave Arsenal behind them during this period. Unbelievably, the latter four of those have all ended up at Manchester City, illustrating the power shift between the two clubs. Back in 2004 when Arsenal went a whole league season unbeaten, the thought of a club like City, then a mid-to-lower-table outfit, signing so many quality players would have been unthinkable. And for Wenger to regain the credibility and attraction of his club he needs to make sure the likes of City, United and Barcelona don't get their hands on any more of his star players. Podolski has proven himself with Germany, becoming the youngest ever European to reach 100 caps for his country this summer and netting 44 times along the way, despite often being deployed out wide. Giroud, at 25, has plenty to offer and having scored over 20 league goals in two of his last three seasons in France will be expected to pick up van Persie's baton and lead the assault on opposition defences. Cazorla has been in the Spain squad throughout their period of international dominance and while he struggles to start for them (not in anyway a criticism considering Fabregas, David Silva and Fernando Torres are all in the same situation) he has accrued 47 caps over the past five years. These players could form the core of a new Wenger team, and perhaps one that wins trophies again.

Nevertheless, the new boys can't be expected to do it all on their own. They will need the existing Arsenal core to gel with them and play to their maximum. Jack Wilshere's return to fitness is paramount. The diminutive playmaker hasn't played competitive football since June 4th 2011 when England drew 2-2 with Switzerland but he has been handed the number 10 shirt and is pencilled in for an October return to the first team. Theo Walcott and Gervinho need to up their quality of service from the wings and will be expected to chip in with more goals too, but that is certainly within their capabilities. If Song stays, he will be needed to strengthen the midfield with his eye for a good pass as crucial as his positional sense and defensive attributes. If he does leave, Wenger will need to replace him or risk his team really struggling in the middle of the park. New captain Thomas Vermaelen and new vice-captain Mikel Arteta will both play crucial roles in the squad and their fitness is very important. Keep them fit and a solid core of a team is in place. Full back positions are a worry as Bacary Sagna is still injured and Kieran Gibbs is injury-prone while Wojciech Szczesny will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing Euro 2012 where he got sent off in the first match as his country crashed out in the group stage on home soil. But the young Pole's displays last season showed enough ability to warrant being first choice goalkeeper for the foreseeable future.

So it could be the fitness of the squad that dictates Arsenal's performances this season. They lack the strength in depth of their rivals but remain a force to be reckoned with if they are firing on all cylinders. Wenger knows full well that Arsenal have becoming a selling club, but he, and the board, need to bring an end to that situation. Their star striker van Persie is gone, and so are pretty much all of the team that last came close to the title race (2007/08 - they finished just four points off first place), but quality remains and it must be consolidated. If this team play together for a couple of seasons, and if a couple of reinforcements are added each transfer window, Wenger could be king again. While this season's title race looks set to be a three-way tussle between the two titans of Manchester and European champions Chelsea, Arsenal may yet manage to get themselves back in the running next year. They just need to start keeping their best players.