Arsene Wenger is not a lover of the January transfer window, and he is not alone there. Having to do your trade in a narrow window of opportunity would be a breach of European law in any other business, but alas it is what football has to put up with. Previously players could move at will, but with some obvious cases of players being continuously tapped up, the January and summer transfer windows would act to provide stability at all clubs, where all too often the players and their against hold all the aces. Wenger did splash out £16 million for Andrey Arshavin in the January transfer window of 2009, and having come so highly rated, Arsenal fans have never consistently seen the best of the talented Russian.

Nervous

No surprises then that Wenger is looking to offload Arshavin, with a cut price £6 million being mooted. To take a £9 million hit on a player at a club that is the epitome of financial prudence, will not please a Board who still get very nervous over the manageable amounts still owing for the spectacular Emirates Stadium. Still Wenger has always said that he would only come in for a player who would be better than those he already has. Arsenal fans would argue that surely there is a better player than Per Mertersacker out there for example, or is that being unfair to the giant German who has struggled to come to terms with the rigours of the Premiership.

Defence

Patience then, and perhaps Mertersacker could see how after a shaky start Laurent Koscielny has turned his game around, with a massive improvement to be a regular at the heart of the Arsenal defence. At Aston Villa during the Gunners 2-1 win in December, the Arsenal fans agreed with the first chants of his name from the away end. Given all the injuries in the defence, Wenger has insisted that it is just unfortunate, and that one can not just keep on buying defenders. Given that Andre Santos, Kieran Gibbs and Bacary Sagna remained sidelined, perhaps a re-think would be needed.

Pressure

Arsenal have been keeping very quiet over any proposed new arrivals, but links to strikers, the German international Lucas Podolski and Newcastle United’s Demba Ba suggest that Wenger is prepared to bring in someone to take the pressure off Robin Van Persie. Ba arrived on Tyneside on a free transfer from West Ham, and with his focus on trying to keep hold of Cesc Fabargas and Samir Nasri, Wenger may have missed that chance. That could be a costly miss and as much as £18 million should Wenger want to bring in the 26 year old Senegal striker, who is currently on African Cup of Nations duty.

Swoop

Wenger will also cast envious glances at Stamford Bridge after Chelsea finally completed the signing of Gary Cahill, who was available for only £5 million from Aston Villa in 2008, and could have been secured on advantageous terms and conditions. Another proposed target Christopher Samba is currently being linked with Queens Park Rangers, but Wenger should swoop now for the Congo player desperate to test himself in Champions League football.

Quality

With the January transfer window now approaching it’s final few days, the demand of players will invariably increase, with prices rising accordingly. It could lead a tense time at the Emirates during this period. To buy or to wait until the summer will be Wenger’s conundrum. Results have shown that Arsenal need to add quality to this young side, but after the signing of Arshavin, Wenger will be cautious but may have his hand forced to save the Gunners’ season