Dear reader, let me wish you all the best for the holidays and the new year. This Christmas Day, we can sense the January window is just about to creak open.
But ho! Is that a scraping sound in the chimney? Ho, ho! Are the Arsenal socks safely in place, hanging from the mantel? Ho, ho, ho! Is that Thierry Henry we can hear, putting pen to paper for a short-term loan?
It hasn't taken Arsène Wenger many weeks to go from almost complete denial to acknowledging that he's considering a loan deal for Arsenal's toppest, Frenchest, goaliest striker ever. Even if the club have been linked with German international Lukas Podolski for weeks on end, and now even for Bobby Zamora (!), a deal for Henry will really create a buzz around the Emirates.
In this window, let's be very critical when it comes to rumoured deals for incoming midfielders. Players like Lucas Biglia and Kaká have eager agents working hard to make deals happen. At the same time, Arsenal are considering sending surplus midfielders loke Francis Coquelin and Emmanuel Frimpong out on loan. Recruiting more just isn't the natural thing to do.
Where Wenger and the club admit to a need - bordering on desperation - is cover for the injured left backs. A loan signing looks imminent, as the manager want to keep Kieran Gibbs and André Santos as the long-term options.
"Everyone" reckons the frozen-out Wayne Bridge will be the natural choice: a former England international, a former Arsenal target (even if it's years ago) and a player more than eager to please any new employer. This interview in the Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday makes for depressing reading. The defender's take on the story is very different from the public scorn dished out from his own manager.
(Just a thought: imagine Arsène Wenger picking on one of his own players, ridiculing him in public. You can't really picture it, can you? Thought not.)
A loan deal for Bridge would fit the "new" transfer regime, where Wenger's faith in the youngsters have faded just a little bit, but just in the short term. The acquisitions of Sol Campbell, Jens Lehmann, Yossi Benayoun and perhaps Henry are other examples.
If I'm to venture my own Christmas guesses before the January Silly Season kicks in for real, I think that two veteran loanees are far more likely than anything Wenger can round up from the top of the Bundesliga...
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