I confess my knowledge of Thomas Vermaelen is pretty much limited to what I have read about the player since he has been linked with a possible move to Arsenal since the end of the season.

However, I am encouraged. This morning’s Guardian tells me enough to feel that. At 23, he is of an age that Wenger approves of. The club could get a decent eight or nine years from him if he comes, produces, and sticks around. He plays international football for Belgium and captains Ajax. He is not so much older than Cesc Fabregas that he will be bothered by the idea of being captained by a younger man.

In fact the armband should mean very little if the team has enough leaders, and this is why, should Vermaelen sign, he is exactly the type of player that the club require at the moment. The Guardian report states, ‘Despite his tender years, he has emerged as a leader’. Remind you of anyone from the last 25 years? Hopefully he is a good organizer to boot.

Wenger has to find a way of integrating more leaders into his selection. The signing of Arshavin looks to have been a positive step in this direction. Fans have criticized many of the younger players over the last season, and the reality is that, surrounded by more experienced leaders, I suspect they would have all performed better. As it was there were too many of them thrown in at once and they sunk together. It will have done nothing for their confidence, and seeing how bad things were, my suspicion is that the manager chose to limit the on-field exposure of the likes of Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey.

Fulham’s Brett Hangeland is also mentioned as a possible target. Will it be an ‘either or’ situation or will Wenger try and sign both? Given the Belgian is only 5’ 11”, I hope it’s the latter. What seems clear now is that the manager did not have enough money to strengthen his hand last summer, but the possibility of Champions League football (if the team can get through their qualifier) means that the board are willing to give him a bit more to play with. It’s a needs must situation really, as Manchester City will have a full summer of spending and could well turn out to be another Chelsea. Arsenal’s best hope of remaining in the top four could now be if Liverpool depart it due to financial problems.

I think it’s realistic to assume that Wenger can afford two quality signings this summer, three if he sells someone like Adebayor. If there are only two and they are both centre backs, so be it. Alongside Nasri, Fabregas and – dare I raise the idea – Rosicky, Alex Song has shown signs that he could develop into the holding midfielder of requisite quality the team obviously lacked last season. He isn’t there yet, but with players behind barking at him, he could improve. Incidentally, I’d play Arshavin off the main striker, whoever Wenger decides that might be.

Arsenal are scoring enough goals going forward. The problem is preventing them. The manager knows it, the directors know it, the fans know it, the players know it. So news that Le Boss is looking at centre backs is exactly what I want to hear about this summer. And the sooner I see pictures of them holding up an Arsenal shirt with a cheesy grin the better. Let’s do our business in June for a change and get a settled team by the beginning of August.