An open letter to Arsene Wenger...

Dear Mr Wenger,

Thanks very much for your sterling work in consistently finishing in the top four despite being given minimal transfer funds with which to do so. I am also particularly grateful to you for nurturing the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Jack Wilshere while continuing to play free flowing, attacking football.

However I do have one small favour to ask of you:

Please can you sign Shay Given?

There is one man that the majority of Arsenal supporters would love to see between the sticks this season and that man is Shay Given.

I was a part of the North Bank which broke into a rousing chorus of ‘sign him up’ after Given had come close to single handedly salvaging Newcastle United a point at Highbury a few years ago. You must remember that game?

While I would normally back your judgment over that of any number of Arsenal supporters on this occasion the mob definitely had a point.

Almunia is not a bad keeper and he would be good enough to get in a lot of other Premiership sides. He is not an elite keeper though and neither is Schwarzer.

The Australian might be a mild improvement on Almunia but it hardly seems worth going to the trouble of signing a new number one unless he is going to be substantially better than the man he replaces.

Given has consistently been one of the Premiership’s outstanding goalkeepers. He is on a par with Van Der Sar, Cech and Reina and would provide the sort of reliable presence which has really been lacking since David Seaman retired. Jens Lehmann actually did a pretty decent job (well done for signing him by the way) but reliable is not a word that could really be used to describe someone with Lehmann’s anger management issues.

With Given losing his place in the Manchester City team now is the time to pounce for the Irishman. The club are consistently insisting that there is money to be spent yet your pre-season outlay has been decidedly modest with the arrivals of Chamakh, Koscielny and Squillaci partly offset by the sale of poor old Eduardo.

Please can you get on the phone to Given and tell him that you want to make him Arsenal’s number one? If this is illegal perhaps you could ask one of your minions to do it for you? If you get me his number I’d be happy to drop him a text.

Please can you beg and if necessary blackmail (you must have some dirt on them by now) the board to make the necessary funds available. £10 million would be money well spent and a goalkeeper of Given’s quality could be the difference between success and failure this season.

Admittedly Manchester City would probably rather see Given rot on their bench or pay him 90 grand a week to go and play in the Championship than allow him to bolster the defence of a club who, despite being run at a profit, are still considerably better than them.

There is nothing stopping you from asking them nicely though. The player himself might then put pressure on the club with a view to forcing the move through. This seems to be the normal approach when other clubs want to sign one of our under contract players.

Given has already talked about leaving and with a week to go until the transfer window slams shut he is unlikely to get a better offer.

You have never had a problem with spending £10 million plus on a striker, a midfielder or even a defender. Why not spend it on an established, experienced goalkeeper for a change?

Everyone really appreciates what you have done for Almunia by letting him play in your team, particularly after Lehmann was so nasty to him. The time has come to move on though and I can think of no better way of doing so than by signing Shay Given.

So Mr Wenger, please could you do me a massive favour and just sign Shay Given?