If two things are guaranteed to happen in the pre-season lull that comes every summer it’s obvious transfer gossip that you can see happening months beforehand and wild rumours created by £1.50-a-minute phonelines or Teletext. The case of Robert Pires, our ever-present no.7 for the past six years, easily falls into the first category, and now the deed is done an evaluation of the player he was for Arsenal comes naturally.

And what a player he was; 84 goals in 283 appearances, as well as two Premiership trophies and two FA Cup medals to his name (perhaps three, depending what stance is taken on the 2002 final) demonstrates he was a key player at a key time in Arsenal’s era of trophies and the unbeatables. His swift pace, deft touches and thirst for goals - no better seen than against Aston Villa away in the double season against Schmeichel - proved the perfect counterpart to a team of the likes of Henry and Vieira.

But with every peak there is some decline nearby - “all good things…” as they say - which could be seen more and more in Bobby’s game in the past few years. His runs became slower and more inward, the assists started to dry up and he was beginning to be taken over in the pecking order by the likes of Hleb and Reyes. Like Bergkamp, it was a sad indictment of how minimal his position had become at the club when his presence was barely felt in the Champions League Final, being surplus to a ten-man squad.

However, Pires being the player he is, such wanes didn’t stop him from being the third highest Premiership goalscorer of the 04/05 season, as well as reaching double figures in the campaign just gone. The fact he managed to score on our final Highbury match proved that though his best days had perhaps gone he could still be a creative and influential part of the squad, not to mention his brilliant record against them from down the road! I can’t think of many other Gunners, past or present, who have had the whole squad kneel before them when a trophy was lifted like the scenes in May ’02.

If anything, the pacy midfielder exemplifies the Wenger era of this club; In Pires, Wenger not only turned a previously good foreign player into a peerless one, but could make a transition from one influential winger in Overmars to another almost seamless. And it is with Wenger’s knack of replacing players that I think/hope our no.7’s departure will not be felt as bad as Paddy’s last season. Yes he was one of a kind at Arsenal, and perhaps his vision and playmaking at his best may not be wholly replicated by anyone, yet with the likes of Hleb, Walcott and our new no.7 Tomas Rosicky, his departure will hopefully be seen as a strength-to-strength move…it’s just a matter of finding another Gooner who can score that many goals against that other North London club.