After years of studied indifference to the ramblings of the popular press, and a feigned ambivalence to Arsenal supporters crying out for Arsene to sign a “big name”, I have finally fallen for it. I’ve made the mistake of hoping that Arsenal, who are, after all, a big club, would stand alongside Manchester United and Chelsea and be considered in the same breath, as potential purchasers of a big star signing. But I’m so wrong to have done it. Why?

Well the answer is simple; Arsenal have never conducted their business through the press. It isn’t the Arsenal way. Manchester United, who are a big club, will always be talked of as a buying club whenever a star name appears to be on the move, and they do nothing to deny it. As long as you don’t get the name wrong, they’ll enjoy the free publicity, even if there is no substance to the story. Whatever our feeling towards Chelsea, the fact is, that with their wealth, whether ill-gotten or not, they can go outside their business plan and purchase whoever they want. And as a result they too will be linked to anybody who can kick a ball. Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur will be associated with anybody, but who do they actually sign with star quality? Anybody that we can look upon with envy? I don’t think so.

So, back to Arsenal. Because nobody in the press actually knows who Arsene might be considering making enquiries for, they resort to a different tack. They talk of the Gunners as a selling club! How long did we read about Patrick going to Real Madrid? Four years? Five? And when Patrick did move they reported it as a disaster for Arsenal. No! It would have been a disaster if he had left earlier. So now we have the annual “Star player leaving Arsenal” ritual with Thierry going to Barcelona. Despite denials, a la Vieira, we still get hot under the collar worrying that Henry might, just might leave, “because it’s in the papers!”

Here’s a simple question; who was the last “star” player Arsenal signed? You know somebody famous who is up there with Ronaldinho. Dennis Bergkamp? Yet when Arsenal signed one of the all-time greats, a player with a proven pedigree who was unable to settle in Italy, there was more space in the papers questioning whether Dennis had made the right move, (no mention of what a tremendous signing Bergkamp was for Arsenal), and a quote from Alan Sugar questioning whether Dennis would be “up for it on a cold night in Blackburn”.

OK, Thierry may leave Arsenal this summer. I don’t know, and nor do the press. But if he does, Arsenal will still go on. I’ll be disappointed, but no more than I was when Charlie and Liam, Frank and Rixy left. They were produced by the Gunners and that made their departure more poignant, but it’s the nature of football. To paraphrase Nick Hornby, the players only borrow the shirt for a period of time, we’re here for ever. And if Arsenal don’t sign a “star” name this year, I’ll settle for another Diaby, or Toure, or Walcott, or whoever. What I do know is that I’ll never again panic because Arsenal are not associated with big names.