Cesc Fabregas' statement issued on Friday was reassuringly honest and to the point. We can now look forward to another season with Cesc as our captain. This was a massive positive for Wenger in the final year of his contract, where he absolutely must win something or walk away with his great experiment deemed a failure. Wenger knows that his chances of meaningful silverware would be hugely dented if his star player - possibly entering into the prime years of his career - were to leave. Arsene Wenger is a stubborn man, and as an ardent supporter of his methods and theories, this at times is one of his flaws, however his intransigence to sell to the Catalan giants worked in the club's favour.

Cesc is the heartbeat of Arsenal, the formation and style of play is designed to get the maximum out of the Spaniard. Unlike Adebayor and Cole - who thought they were more important than the club or Henry and Vieira - who had played their best years at the club but were fading forces: no Arsenal fan with a sense of sanity would admit our chances of winning the league would not be affected by Fabregas' departure. Remember his cameo against Aston Villa last Christmas? Eventually he will leave for Barcelona, most probably within the next 12-24 months, by then Wilshire, Lansbury, Emmanuel Thomas and Ramsey will be ready to step up: just as when Arsenal defiantly held on to Vieira summer after summer until Cesc was deemed ready.

Suffice to say that the relationship between Barcelona and Arsenal is at an all time low, especially after the players, club executives and Spanish press have done all they can to force Arsenal's hand. This can only work in our favour the next time they come searching for our star players. Furthermore the club's stance on the Cesc issue also sends a message to the rest of the team, namely if you are deemed important enough you will not be sold because AFC wants to progress and end the five year trophyless spell.

Quite frankly it became boring on a daily basis to read and hear the numerous stories regarding Cesc and Barcelona, and now a line has been drawn under it al least for the next 10 months, we can concentrate on the season ahead. Speaking of which, the Emirates Cup last week gave some sort of insight into where we currently are going into the new season. Despite Almunia and Fabianski's solid displays, a goalkeeper remains a priority. Koscielny looked like a good purchase, however I still doubt he is ready for a 50 game season at the highest level so an experienced defender is also vital - which Wenger alluded to at the end of last season. Chamakh (which in Hindi means excellent) will hopefully be "chamakh" next season, his touch and link up play looks far superior to Bendtner's. Wilshire is a star in the making - a genuine box to box dynamo, Nasri and Walcott must deliver after a restful summer, Frimpong will challenge Song (or help him out) once his occasional lapses in distribution are corrected, while RVP, Arshavin and Cesc are all matchwinners on their day.

Exciting times ahead especially as we can say for the short term at least "We've got Cesc Fabregas"...