There's not a long happening except some rumours seem to be getting a little closer to the truth.

Sagna, Auxerre's right back, appears to be moving closer to the Emirates, which is a move I still can't understand. With Hoyte and Eboue both extending their contracts, where would he fit in? From what I've heard, he can play a little at left back and right midfield, but he is much more comfortable at right back. Hoyte is a much better right back than left back and I don't know that he can play anywhere else, while Eboue can be honed as an excellent right back. I'm not a fan of the idea of him in midfield.

I'm sure there's a plan, I just have no idea how the pieces fit.

Meanwhile, BBC London claim that Wenger will extend his contract, and the legend is Grimandi will slot into the Director of Football role. Interesting. We'll see on that one.

Otherwise, it's been the same old debate about which striker(s) we should sign. Newcastle are being made to look foolish over the buyout clauses in Martins' and Owen's contracts, at a time where Atletico are showing Liverpool the power of a high one.

Tevez 'isn't moving to Inter', and Anelka 'isn't moving to United'. So according to various papers, we're signing all four. Again, we'll see.

I haven't been writing much this week because I didn't feel like rehashing the same speculation. Every day one of these strikers either hints that he wants to move, that he's 'flattered' by Arsenal, or that someone else is now the favourite to take them. Until concrete actions come along, I think I'll sit back and watch.

Although I will say, out of the four, my preference order would be:

Tevez, Anelka, Martins, Owen.

But also that none of the four seem like the 'perfect solution'.

And that there's no way in hell that Martins is still only 22.

That is all. Please, Arsene, come back from holiday so we can have some real news.

Yesterday, I said I was not going to make a prediction on Arsene Wenger's future. Today, I might do just that.

Right now, we are undoubtedly in the middle of transition. This will be a busy summer - Henry has already gone, Reyes and Aliadiere are off too, and I now expect at least three signings before the new season.

More than that, we will see a fresh focus for the team, perhaps a subtly new style and formation. In short, Wenger has a vision for what he is building, and we're all curious to find out exactly what it is.

If we were to struggle this season, and then he left, he would unfortunately be remembered by some for failing to create another great team. Some would judge him as losing control and letting the side fall down. All of which would be incredibly harsh, but we know how the media works.

If he were to defy expectations, build the current side into a title winning one within three or four years, he would be utterly vindicated in every decision he has made to this point. At that stage, I could see him calling it a day.

As such, I predict he will sign a new deal by Christmas at the latest.

Of course, this is just idle sourceless speculation, so take it only as that.

As for the worst case scenario for many - Wenger leaving - consider this. We have probably the best Under 23 squad in the entire world, bar none. We have a wonderful new stadium, and money to spend. How hard do you think it'll be to attract the top managers?

As I've said, I doubt it'll come to that, at least not for a few years, but when it does, it is not The End (tm).

So there we have it. After eight years and 226 goals, Thierry Henry is no longer an Arsenal player. And for what many consider to be a measly 16 million (which as has been pointed out, is the price tag on one Darren Bent).

So what were his reasons, what were Wenger's reasons, and where does this leave Arsenal? Let's have a look.

Henry's reasons

Although he wouldn't risk the wrath of Arsenal fans everywhere by saying so, his reasons are probably that although he sees this current crop of players being great in four years time, that simply isn't soon enough for him. He needs to be challenging for major honours in the next two years, to fill his medal cabinet with, amongst others, the Champions League. And he doesn't think he'll get that at Arsenal.

I don't buy his story that he was unsettled by Dein and Wenger. It continues to be a mystery why David Dein leaving seems to have had such an effect on everyone connected with the club, but I suspect there is something of a media campaign on that front - I can well imagine them asking every player if Dein will be missed, those players saying yes, and this forming the basis of a story emerging about how disastrous his leaving was. For that, it appears the ex-director has the press in the palm of his hand.

As for Wenger, he has more reason to be unsettled by board level activity than his players. But he has never signed a new contract a year before his current one expires, so unless he told Henry something in private, which I doubt as he wouldn't have made it public, then this seems a bit like an convenient excuse.

However, the above is not a criticism of Henry. I understand his reasons for leaving and in a way I agree with them. This is not comparable to certain players that have left us under a dark cloud, this is simply an Arsenal legend feeling it is time to move on. I fail to see why people would have hard feelings towards him for that. Eight years is a long time in the life of a professional footballer at one club.

Wenger's reasons

As I said yesterday, I'm not entirely convinced Wenger had much choice in the Henry sale. Once a player that prominent wants to leave, he's leaving, and there's very little you can do about it. I'm sure, for example, that Wenger would love Reyes to have another stab at the Premiership, but he doesn't want to, and he won't be forced. That is the game as it is now.

However, I suspect that had Wenger been able to crack the whip and demand he stay, he wouldn't have anyway. He has too much respect for Henry, and realises that times change and no one is irreplaceable, not even the club's talisman. It would be a disappointment, no doubt - it is clear that Wenger was resting Henry for this season, to give him the extended break he needed and deserved. To have another club benefit from that is galling, but it is also football. Wenger had Henry's best interests at heart, and for that reason, he would not stand in the way of his captain's wishes.

David Dein

Since Dein left, there has been a media furore, generally focusing on how the club is falling apart without him. If the press are to be believed, Henry left because of him, Wenger will too, and half the squad will be clinging to their coattails.

My take on this is that its complete garbage. Both Henry and Wenger are their own men, capable of making their own decisions for their own reasons. I'm certain that Henry is leaving for purely football reasons, and Arsene can cope just fine without his friend. It's not as if the guy's died, he just isn't on the board anymore.

To me, the media are currently doing Dein's bidding. Whether he has any influence on that or not, I have absolutely no idea. But it does seem like a convenient story - the remaining board members are now being painted as old has-beens who rejected modernising the club, and as a result Arsenal as a competitive football team is dead. I'm sure you can guess my opinion on this load of utter tripe. Dein was underhand, and while in some ways he could be seen as a visionary, he was not always right, and he also demonstrated that he is by no means a team player.

Wenger's future

The most concerning statement that came from Henry was that part of the reason he is leaving is the uncertainty surrounding Wenger's long term future at the club. In short, he appears to be claiming that Wenger will have only one more season as Arsenal manager.

I am not going to make a prediction about this, as the last one I made, six days ago, was this:

"I still believe Thierry will be strutting his stuff at the Emirates next season."

My take on it is this - if Henry knows Wenger is planning to leave next summer, he would not be so disrespectful as to effectively announce it to the world against his wishes. So that tells me that Henry does not know whether Wenger is staying or going. The media certainly don't know, so don't believe their crisis talk, and I have no more idea than you do. So let's just wait and see.

One thing is for sure - it is a subject that will not stop coming up until he gives us an answer. Every press conference he gives, he will be asked the same question, and he's stuck in catch 22 land. If he's planning on leaving, he's got two bad choices. One, he tells everyone, but that never works out well for clubs - performances tend to dip if players know a manager is off, or two, he doesn't, in which case he'll have a year of questions and speculation while the media figure it out for themselves. And that does the club no good either.

Which makes me think that if he's planning on staying, he may well extend his contract a little earlier than usual, perhaps even this summer. I look forward to hearing him speak.

The glass is half full

Over the last few days we've seen the full range of reactions to Henry's departure, and it is fair to say that there are differences of opinion all over the place, with many people sitting at one extreme or another. I'm generally an optimist, and don't tend to go in for the media-fuelled crisis panic, but some of the comment has been quite blinded. Some say Henry is past his best, was useless last season anyway, and we'll be better off without him. To me, this is complete nonsense, and disrespectful to the man himself. Seven stunning seasons, and then an injury plagued one where he still had an excellent goals to games ratio, and we're better off without him?

The loss of Henry is a huge one. He is irreplaceable, at least directly. The best we can do is make a stab at replacing him, and improve others areas of the team to augment the process. I hope this is the plan. But we need new signings between now and August. I'm sure we'll get them. Wenger is not a stupid man.

The glass is half empty

On the flip side, you have the doom brigade. According to these fans (?), Henry leaving means that Wenger will leave. Cesc will follow, as will every other decent youngster we have because they all signed for Arsenal purely because of Wenger. We will slip into mid table obscurity, be beaten by Spurs, and not fill the stadium, eventually falling foul to debt and plunging Leeds-style into crisis.

Get a grip, people. We never lose to Spurs.....

In all seriousness, this set of opinion does no justice to the fact that clubs are bigger than individuals. Sometimes it doesn't seem that way, but I remember watching Seaman in his prime and thinking 'oh no, one day he won't be with us, what'll happen then?'. His is the strongest memory of that type I have, but the same is true all over the place. Even under Wenger, we've had Anelka leave, which was supposed to be a disaster, and Henry came in and knocked that one down. Then Manu and Overmars disappeared, only to fall flat themselves as we thrived with Pires and co. Finally Vieira departed, and although he wasn't replaced as the previous group were, Cesc partially filled the void.

And so it will be again, with Henry, with Wenger when he leaves, with Cesc when he goes back to Spain, and on with the next bunch of stars that leave the Emirates behind. It's football.

And no, we will not lose to Spurs.

Replacement

Time to look forward. Much as Henry talks about it being time for Van Persie, Adebayor and Bendtner to shine, we all know that won't be enough. We need a new striker. Not one who will be good in three years time, but one who can come in and score 15-20 next season. Of course, that's easier said than done, with players such as Darren Bent commanding such ludicrous fees (but when did Spurs ever get ripped off for a striker that turned out to be useless *cough* Rebrov *cough*?), but it looks like the wheels are in motion.

If reports are to be believed, a new striker could be unveiled this week, and while many names are being touted around (Owen, Martins, Eto'o), the one that interests me the most is Anelka. It also appears to have the most merit.

What an irony that could be. Eight years ago Wenger sold Anelka, and picked up Henry for half the fee. Perhaps this summer, he will sell Henry and sign Anelka for, yes, half the price. He remains an admirer of Le Sulk, who at 28 should be peaking, and his form for France especially demonstrates that these may be golden years for the man who could've, perhaps should've stayed at Highbury for a lot longer than he did first time around.

As for Anelka himself, this could be the last chance he has at a big club, which should be motivation enough in itself. He is too good for Bolton, whose play does not suit his style. He thrives on speed of passing and movement, as we've seen before. A hungry Anelka could yet fill that void.

Of course, this is speculation. But of all the names floating around, his is the one I'd love to see return.

The future

So what about the rest of the squad? There are two ways of replacing a great player. One, with a direct replacement - a star at the same level. I can't see that happening here - we'll sign the best available who'll fit the role, but he won't be in Henry's class.

The second is to augment the squad to cover the weakness. The best example I can think of in Man Utd. Like him or loathe him, Van Nistelrooy was a consistent 25 goal a season striker for them, and he has not been replaced, much in the same way that Henry will not be directly replaced.

However, United thrived last season because of their midfield. The onus was removed from the strikers because the midfielders were scoring by the bucketload - all of them. The key was that they never relied on one or two players, there were threats everywhere. That's what we need now, to field a team where the opposition fear six of them from an attacking point of view. They can then mark one or two out of the game without stunting the team, which we have suffered from in the past.

Can you think of a Premiership challenger in the last ten years that hasn't had one of the following?

a) a 20-25 goal striker

b) a 15 goal midfielder

I can't. Right now, we probably lack both, and that's the hole that needs filling. Either will do. Both would be perfect, but not required. It's the same reason Liverpool aren't challenging for the league - they have a ten goal midfielder in Gerrard (incidentally, I believe Cesc can match this next season), and no 20 goal striker.

It's time to steal a march on them. Thierry has gone, he needs replacing, but the focus also needs to stem backwards through the team. Being able to win a game 1-0, with a goal from a midfielder, is a lost art to us. Not to United or Chelsea. Let's catch them.

Final point

In closing, I'd just like to say what a pleasure it has been to watch eight years of one of the world's finest players playing for Arsenal. At his peak, he was the best player in the world, and I sincerely wish him well at Barcelona, despite his new teammates. Thanks TH14.

Well that'll teach me. 24 hours ago I left work, relaxed for the evening and didn't give the news one fleeting thought. Today, I've been working away putting up skirting boards with the electrics off, so no news, sport or anything, without any inkling that unbeknowst to me, one of the biggest stories to hit Arsenal in years had been resolved.

Henry, club captain, record goalscorer, talismanic figure, was off. To the exact club he turned down last summer, saying this would be his 'last ever contract'. Never say never, I guess.

I only have a short time before going to a friend's wedding tonight, so I'll probably give more considered opinion on this tomorrow - I haven't even had time to digest what the fallout from this has been.

But I can guess. There'll be the eternal optimists (of which I am usually one) who will say he was useless last season anyway, and approaching 30 he is probably past his best. What they miss is that with a combination of no Henry, and a misfiring midfield, we looked impotent last season, and a man like Henry will not lose his playing ability so early.

Then there'll be the pessimists, who read into Henry's comments that Wenger will be off next summer, taking Cesc with him, and Arsenal as a football club will collapse into obscurity, unable to fill the shiny new stadium. Equally, they miss the point that Arsenal is bigger than one or two men, even those with the influence and success of Wenger and Henry. Even if Wenger does make this season his last, the club will live on.

The reality is probably somewhere in the middle. Make no mistake about it, losing Henry is a huge blow. I had high hopes that his extended break from the game would see him come back hungry and firing on all cylinders. That may be the case, but it will no longer be for us. We've lost our record scorer, and one of the best players ever to play for the club. How we replace him now is vital. We cannot afford to promote our existing strikers to more prominent roles, while bringing in a 20 and 21 year old who may or may not become great players. We need a top, established striker.

But who? There is no sign that Eto'o is part of the Barca deal, so the question is simply who is available? And with Liverpool sniffing around for the same sort of player, and with bucketloads to spend, the task isn't easy. The only good news is that Henry has done exactly what we wished he would - make a decision early in the summer. It's time to move on.

Arseblogger suggests that Wenger, similar to the Vieira situation two years ago, decided that it was simply the right time:

"He probably feels now is the right time for Thierry to leave both from the club’s point of view and from the player’s point of view"

I'm not sure Wenger had a lot of choice to be honest. When you have your star player deciding he wants to move on, contract or no contract he holds the power. Having said that, I cannot imagine the split being anything other than amicable.

I'll be back tomorrow with more thoughts on this. These are without doubts worrying times, and Wenger's next press conferences may reveal more, but I cannot help but be anxious about where we are going, mainly because we're in the dark. Let's hope for some better news to follow.

Until tomorrow.

Many children have imaginary friends at a young age - it helps them feel secure and wanted at an ever changing stage of their life. The imaginary friend never argues, deceives or annoys them, they never fall out or get teased by them.

Some get so attached to their imaginary friend that their real life gets a little stunted - no real friend ever matches up to the perfect one sitting in their subconscious. Some even get so consumed by the voice in their head that they start confusing the boundaries between fact and fiction. Ever known someone who told a lie so many times they believed it themselves? It's a very similar concept - there is no distinction between a real conversation and the one that they go to sleep creating.

Some take this so far, that they become journalists for the Sun.

How else do you explain all the 'friends' that appear in news stories? Someone who is 'close friends' with Wenger has apparently been spilling the beans to the Sun about how disillusioned he is with the financial constraints at Arsenal, and how he is unlikely to renew his contract. How likely is it that this 'friend' is in fact the journalist, who met Arsene once, and last night went to sleep imagining how the conversation would go. When the alarm clock went off this morning, he instantly rang his editor with news of a 'remarkable story'. Split personalities must be useful when a journalist needs quotes. 

Simple rules of the transfer window:

If the story says 'A close friend said', it's not true.

If a story says 'It is understood that', it's not true.

If a story says 'Sources close to X revealed that', it's not true.

If a story says 'Harry Harris: Exclusive', it's not true.

Elsewhere, Sepp Blatter's making friends again, comparing young African players playing for European clubs to slavery. He claims that the top clubs are signing them up, taking them from their families, and dropping them again if they don't cut it.

Which is exactly how football works all around the world. It is more than worrying that the president of the world game doesn't understand such a simple concept.

Is there any continent the FIFA president doesn't want to alienate? It seems he is trying to recover from his demand that Mali players play for their clubs last weekend, but he's so transparent its untrue.

Do you ever get the feeling that disciplinary panels are just going through the motions when they hold certain enquiries? Why does so much time and effort get spent on these 'examinations' when the outcome is so utterly predictable?

We are nearing the end of the West Ham points deduction appeal, but does anyone actually believe that all of a sudden they'll be kicked out of the league via a retrospective points hit? Absolutely no chance. That would require, amongst other things, bravery by a governing association, and a willingness to stamp out all things underhand in the game.

And let's face it, that isn't going to happen.

West Ham should've been deducted points. They knowingly and wilfully broke the rules, and were extremely deceitful about hiding it. They knew what they were doing. But a decision today to dock them points would lead to further appeals, and it seems the authorities don't want that. So I predict an increased fine for the Hammers, which they'll pay with a smile with all that extra TV money.

The same is true of the racism that marred the Under 21s game on Sunday. I agree that a team shouldn't be kicked out because of their fans, but there should be serious repercussions for the Serbian FA. We're talking heavy fines, and four games behind closed doors.

And that's not the end of the row. It seems a Serbian player is being accused of an extreme racist comment, and spitting. For the latter he should get three games. For the former, three months, if guilty. A fine and a slap on the wrist simply isn't good enough.

But already the problem is being shelved. The disciplinary commitee will not meet for three weeks, where they'll discuss all the options and fine both FAs. If the player is found guilty, he'll get a three match ban, the same as for some innocuous challenges seen week in week out.

It's just all so predictable.

Meanwhile, Reyes continues to alienate all who want to sign him. This time he's irritating Athletico Madrid by saying he wants to stay with their rivals.....who don't want him. Be quiet Jose.

And finally, confirmation as if it was required - the Sun talk utter tripe.

You may have noticed that I haven't really been covering the Henry story of late, for the simple reason that I had a feeling it would become boring extremely quickly, and I only wanted to examine it in more detail once it became apparent that there was some substance to the story.

Now that the Spanish season is finally over (with Reyes neatly adding another couple of million to his transfer fee by winning it for Real Madrid - well done that man), Marca and the rest of the trash talkers will probably go for the jugular. A couple of days of reflection will surely be followed by the reignition of all the rehashed stories, which up to a few days ago I would've dismissed as rubbish.

But since then, some usually accurate sources have suggested that there may be something in the Henry-Barcelona story this time around. It has a lot of parallels with Vieira's eventual exit, but I still think that letting him go would be a mistake. If Wenger thinks that he's lost a yard , and decides to sell him before others realise the same thing, then that's one thing, but Henry can do more than just run. Sure, he's a player blessed with pace, but at 29, his ability doesn't just disappear with his legs.

Fans have had enough of the departures over the last few years, but Wenger is his own man and if he decides to make that decision, then we need to back him. He's done it before, and more often than not his decisions are good. Not always, but usually.

I still believe Thierry will be strutting his stuff at the Emirates next season.

Meanwhile, our new sixteen year old centre back, Havard Nordveit, is excited - well, he would be. Sixteen and landing a whopping contract at a top club makes for a better than average week.

Speaking of transfers, if you ever wondered why Wenger doesn't buy British very often, think 18m for Darren Bent, and 12m for this idiot. Beyond a joke.

Finally, once again England players were abused abroad, and this time Justin Hoyte came in for some flak. Utterly disgraceful yet again, but don't hold your breath for any action - maybe someone will be fined an hours wages, like Aragones was a few years back. Ridiculous.

Juli Baptista impresses Dunga enough to get a recall to the Brazil squad for the Copa America.

What planet is the Brazil coach on? Has he not been watching the same games we have?

I'm lost for words. Baptista isn't:

""I was a little bit upset when the list was announced and I wasn't in it but I had a kind of faith that I could receive a last minute call."

Julio, buy yourself a lottery ticket. Seriously.

Watching the documentary on Graham Poll made me think. Not about how self-promoting it was, not about how actually he makes the odd good point only to contradict himself while doing the job, but about how a referee can ever call things straight down the line.

Let's start at the beginning. What makes a referee choose to do such a job? The answer is simple - a love of football. They live for football, without playing it, the curse of the fanatic without talent. Their passion for the game has to be undiminished by the abuse they get from all quarters - managers, players, fans, general public. To me, these are all people who would play the game if they could.

Are they a bit mad? Quite probably. Not in many jobs do you get abused no matter which way you turn, while you 'manage' people earning far more than you do. Not often do you get chased and harangued by those same individuals, who are supposed to respect your every word.

But remember, they are fans, like you and me. They love the game, like you and me. And when was the last time you met a football fanatic who didn't have some kind of allegiance?

When I was younger, I once held the ambition of being a football referee. It must've been a bad day. But now I wonder - how could I have taken charge of an Arsenal match and remained impartial?

You could argue that perhaps they should list their favourite teams early in their career and never referee them, but that's not true of the top brass. And in any case, it goes much further than that.

I don't consider myself to be anything out of the ordinary as a football fan. But just using myself as an example, I am an Arsenal fan, I have a respect for teams like Reading and Charlton (pre-Pardew). I want Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Spurs to lose every time they run out on the field, and if Bolton and Blackburn could have a shocker of the season I'd be even happier.

That's half the Premiership. The story continues outside the top flight. But pick an average day in the Premiership and you'd struggle to find a match in which I didn't care one jot about the outcome. Looking at the final day fixtures, Boro-Fulham sticks out, but with Lawrie Sanchez probably making Fulham Boltonesque long ball merchants next season, even that'll change.

So back to the referees. They must glance at some scores and hope for a certain outcome, there must be clubs they don't like, managers they don't get on with, players they can't respect. And for them it's even more present as they personally know the characters. How can you possibly fairly referee Robbie Savage when you know, from two feet away, how repugnant he is?

You can take this as far as you like. Take a average cup game between a Premiership team and a lower league one. If the lesser team are manfully battling away and impressing you, who do you find yourself wanting to win? Now imagine how hard it is for a referee when a player from the top flight team appears to be clipped in the box with two minutes to go, and you look around to see those same players you admired out on their feet, exhausted and desperately hoping you don't give it.

In recent times Germany and Italy have been hit with match fixing scandals. We may at times find our referees to be incompetent (as I regularly do), but at least they don't appear to show much sign of bias. You get the odd thing that makes you raise your eyebrows, but when we criticise referees, we don't tend to question their impartiality, only their ability.

When you take everything into account, that's quite some achievement.

Such a lack of stories, and such a requirement for creative writing.

So, there's more Henry rubbish, more Wenger rubbish (somehow the papers think that when he says he'll honour his contract, that's a story), and now some takeover rumours.

Now, I have no doubt that there is substance in the story that Arsenal are a takeover target. As a club, we are the only one in the top four that hasn't recently been bought by multi-millionaires (or more), and with the infrastructure in place from the new ground, the platform is there to milk some money. Because make no mistake about it, these people just want a nice profit. You don't become an international businessman being charitable, as a general rule.

But I can't see someone like Al Hashimi coming in. As we've already seen, Liverpool were the DIC's first choice, so they're not tied to Arsenal. They're not even tied to sport, based upon their history, which is one thing even Kroenke has on them. Moves are inevitable, but this one screams straws, and lots of clutching.

Elsewhere, David Bentley's reminding us of his character, as he pulls out of a major tournament and an opportunity to showcase himself on the international stage, because the poor boy's tired. Aaah. Plenty of other equally tired players are going, and given that Blackburn aren't in Europe, he'll have plenty of rest next season, sitting at home watching his former teammates travel round the Champions League. It looks like he thinks he should be on a higher plane than the Under 21s. To all those who thought we shouldn't have ditched Bentley, remember the kind of guy he is.

Congratulations to Kolo Toure, who came third in the official Player of the Season stakes, leaving Gilberto and Cesc to fight it out for first place.

And finally, good luck to Aliadiere, who has finally moved on to Middlesborough. I'm not sure what the fee is, but I'd guess at around two million, with some more achievement related stuff. Although he couldn't cut it at Arsenal, a mid-table team could do a lot worse than have a fit Jeremie up front.