At the time of writing, Hleb and Adebayor are on the verge of leaving whilst Flamini has gone. Arsenal have become a selling club, and we won’t finish in the top four next season. Sounds familiar?

The departure of the Flamster was a blow for sure. I can’t remember a player who looked so ordinary for so long suddenly becoming so strong and influential. The way that he dominated against Gattuso et al in the Milan games was just awesome – too awesome as it turns out, with it being right under the noses of his new employers.

A Cesc/Flamini combo through the middle could have held us in good stead for seasons to come, but sadly it’s not to be. Good luck Mattieu - we’ll miss you for sure.

But the other two?

In many respects, Hleb’s career at Arsenal was similar to Flamini’s, except that Le Boss picked him week in week out during his first three years despite the fact that his contribution was negligible – whereas Flamini hardly got a look in.

But despite being Hleb’s biggest critic over that time (shoot you moron, shoot!), even I had to admit that last season was a major improvement as his involvement seemed to become more impactful, with early goals too. Technically, we could always see what the manager saw when he signed him, but at last he seemed to be translating that into something meaningful. Or so it appeared.

The hard reality of our scruffy little number 13 shows two goals and seven assists according to Opta. Compare that to Gerrard, Lampard, Cole, Ronaldo, Scholes, Giggs, Alonso, etc etc – similarly positioned attacking midfielders at our closest competitors. Simply not good enough, so sorry Alex, you were the weakest link – goodbye!

As for Adebayor? – I wasn’t one of those to get on his back last year. I really enjoyed watching him, appreciating his work ethic and his contribution to our attacking effort. It was all a nice surprise really, and here’s the rub – we didn’t expect him to be that good because we all known that deep down Adebayor is NOT what you’d call a top quality centre forward.

Does anyone think that he’ll thrive at Milan or Barca? Give him half a season, he’ll be dropped and become an occasional bit part player. He’ll never be a force in European football because what we witnessed last term was a one season phenomenon, a classic case of a player raising his game in a good side and everything running for him. A purple patch, never to be repeated.

Should we sell him for £30m to AC Milan? Bloody right. Quickly Arsene – bank the money while you can.

So, Samir Nasri for Hleb? – yes please. A Replacement for Ade? Look no further than Nik Bendtner - better in the air, better with his feet, better awareness, a better finisher, and an all round better long term prospect. Give him the lead role and watch him go. That’s they way he’ll earn the respect of his playing colleagues. That’s the way that Arsenal will become a better team this coming season, with Vela, Theo, and hopefully the fit again Eduardo paying alongside the big man.

So with the anti Arsenal vultures circling yet again as the start of the season arrives, I’m backing Arsene to lead us into the Promised Land – with less baggage and better raw materials. C’mon you reds!