Many years ago when Dennis Bergkamp signed for Arsenal, it couldn't have come at a better time. In his last couple of years, George Graham lost it big time in the transfer market, selling the likes of Rocastle and Limpar and replacing them with the likes of John Jensen and Eddie McGoldrick. I do appreciate the trophies he won, the famous back four, etc but signing the likes of McGoldrick was an insult to fans and the club as a whole (sorry if you're reading this Eddie, it's nothing personal but even you must realise you weren't good enough).

Rioch came in and to his credit he signed David Platt and a certain blonde Dutchman. However mediocre that season under Rioch might have been the guy deserves credit for signing the two stars (Platt may have been a less prominent signing but one who chipped in with a few vital goals here and there nevertheless). But signing Bergkamp was a big step away from the average chaff GG had been bringing in and it re-vitalised the club and the players. A sober Merse had his best two seasons before leaving for Boro, Wright struck up a great partnership with DB (both Wright and Merson got recalled to the England squad after periods of exile) and the younger players such as Parlour had someone to really look up to. If it wasn't for DB, Wenger might not have been tempted nor would Vieira or any other great player signed over the years. In short, he changed Arsenal's fortunes completely.

Fast forward to now and many could argue that Wenger was guilty of the same failures in the transfer market recently as Graham was. He hastily dismantled The Invincibles, letting the likes of Pires, Lauren, Parlour, Edu, Gilberto and Campbell all go before their time, in my opinion. Wenger could have easily got a few more years out of them given the job he did of re-vitalising the old guard.

In their place there has been the likes of Hleb, Song, Eboue (who is nothing in the slightest like Ray Parlour and for Wenger to even think of comparing them was insulting to Ray), Adebayor etc who basically are not as good as their predecessors or just plain injury-prone. The team of the early noughties had gone and the team were in steady decline, from being title challengers to fourth place challengers.

That spirit of togetherness the Invincibles had was replaced by conflict in the dressing room, resulting in Gallas shooting his mouth off about all the squabbles, etc. Along with losses to the likes of Stoke and drawing to inferior teams such as Spurs, it was clear that something needed to be done. Maybe it's not quite as bad as the team of '95 was but there was that same stagnant feeling about the club. And then thanks to Gazidis, one man has changed that - Andrey Arshavin.

I had heard rumours in the media about him being interested in playing for Arsenal, etc but then lots of big name players such as him had been linked with the club only for it to fizzle out into nothing. I got really excited about David Villa's comments about Arsenal last summer for about two minutes then I realised there wasn't a chance in hell of Wenger even trying to sign him, given that he was a big name and it would go against this youth policy he'd become so obsessed with. He also copped out of signing Alonso over a reported extra £2million.

Like many other fans, I was thinking that Wenger was losing it in the transfer market, bar the signing of Nasri and possibly Ramsey last summer. Other than that, his dealings had definitely declined since Dein's departure. We didn't need yet another promising 17-year-old from Caerphilly or the Congo, we needed players with experience, proven class and charisma.

As the rumours relating to Arshavin grew, I thought is it possible he might actually sign? And lo and behold, after a lot of faffing around from both clubs, a deal was finally done. I hadn't been this excited since Bergkamp signed all those years ago. Finally, we had other options asides from Eboue in midfield. There were a lot of people who were questioning whether Arshavin was really a player we needed given our attacking options but I certainly wasn't complaining. And since then I have seen more reasons as to why I can't help but love the guy.

After a couple of months he has fully justified why signing him was so beneficial. Firstly, his assists such as his free-kick that Kolo headed in against West Brom shows that he is the best dead-ball specialist we've had in a while. Then there was the way he handled himself against Fat Sam's thugs. I'm sure he told his side to kick Arshavin till he's crippled like the medieval tactician he is but AA showed he wasn't going to let a bunch of primitive thugs managed by a primitive thug get the better of him. Despite having stitching, he carried on without it affecting his game.

Then there was the Hull game which I attended. A typical blood-and-thunder cup tie would surely show that these foreigners can't handle the physical side of the game, wouldn't it? Not a bit of it - despite various attempts and a possibly weakened ankle, AA held his own up against some rough challenges. Every time he got the ball, it looked like something could happen. He gets the crowd and the players going in a way that only special players can. And then there was his attitude. Whilst the team celebrated the equaliser (set up by AA himself), who was it encouraging the players to stop celebrating and push for the winner? You guessed it, AA again, showing an act of leadership Sir Rodders himself (although I think he looked more like Jimmy Nail personally) would've been proud of. That's the kind of drive we've been lacking at times this year but it was so good to see a player showing that kind of spirit again.

And since his arrival the likes of Eboue, Song and even Bendtner have, to be fair, picked up their game. I've just as p*ssed off as the next man at some of their performances this season but in the past two months they have shown more reasons why Wenger has faith in them. If Eboue wants to play like he did against Blackburn when he comes on as a sub then I certainly won't be complaining. Some of that credit has to go to Arshavin and the impact he's had by raising the standards, slowly but surely.

So in just a few games he's shown that he may well be what we've needed all along, asides from the obvious defensive issues. I remember when Beckham trained with the squad last year Wenger and various players commented on how they enjoyed having a player of that magnitude and reputation around. Arshavin's all that and more compared to Beckham and if he carries on like this he will only get better. He is the talisman we have needed not just in Cesc's absence but in general - he is the Bergkamp of the noughties.

With someone like Arshavin to look up to, Ramsey could well prove himself to be the greatest Welshman to play for Arsenal since, er... John Hartson? Seriously though, he will benefit and inspire the youngsters in the same way that Bergkamp did for previous ones. I'm sure the likes of Pennant, Sidwell, etc would acknowledge that they were lucky to be training with players of his calibre when they were young even if they didn't make the grade in the end. I'm not saying that Arshavin is the 'new' Bergkamp as that 'new so and so' tag is used too often and they are quite different players, but he might well have a similar influence on the club and that's no bad thing...