They say certain things don’t translate well between countries; food, language, humour and customs would appear to be the most obvious ones. Though in footballing terms, when Arsenal and Spain - be it domestic teams or players - are put together, it seems the results rarely ever make for comfortable viewing from our end of the tunnel.

For example, transfer ventures in the past few years have proved far from awe-inspiring; Manuel Almunia, though rarely given the chance, appears to be the perpetual understudy to Herr Lehmann as opposed to any kind of successor, whilst the total sum of £17 million spent on Reyes does now look like a bit of a waste in retrospect; never before has the phrase ‘headless chicken’ been so apt. Coupled together with other dross that has ‘graced’ the Premiership from Spain, from Antonio Nuñez to Albert Luque, it would appear that the Gunners are not the only one to experience this.

Then there are the players from Arsenal who have moved to clubs in Spain, which is where the facts become even stranger, or in one case, downright bizarre. For instance, Edu was left out for an entire year with a damaged cruciate ligament just weeks after signing for Valencia; fast forward a year and Robert Pires takes the same fall for Villarreal, leaving him crocked for six months. The sheer fact that Pascal Cygan was actually sold to The Yellow Submarines for two million pounds must be evidence alone that something was lost in translation.

And as for the clubs, it is true to say that there have been very notable exceptions, such as Real Madrid and Villarreal in last season’s Champions League Campaign. Though the further back you go, the worse it becomes; Real Zaragoza ’95, Valencia in 1980 (and again in 2001 in the quarter finals of the Champions League) not to mention the obvious events of May 2006 all culminate to make a generally very sorry picture of our Spanish forays.

Ironically these thoughts came to mind after Cesc Fabregas had put pen to paper on a supersized eight-year deal, a player whom is undoubtedly a shining star in a bright young team right now, so to say all of our dealings with the nation are jinxed would be to tell a lie, and with Fran Merida receiving mass praise in the reserves and youths, perhaps it may only get brighter still.