Footballers like to play football. Well most of them do. Certainly those with any real sense of sporting ambition. Of course you and I would probably quite happily do four or five training sessions a week and sit on our arses for £50,000 per week, but those that genuinely have the talent to play the game at the highest level know that they can earn good money and play regular first team football. And once a player is earning tens of thousands a week, I suspect that the difference between earning £50,000 and £75,000 is of more significance to his agent than to the footballer.

Shaun Wright-Phillips could yet be the figure that has saves English club football. An incredible talent, what the player requires is time and matches to bed in to the Chelsea first eleven. But Jose Mourinho isn’t prepared to wait, which makes SWP’s signing from Manchester City more a case of let’s stop any of our competitors playing him as opposed to let’s buy that player to strengthen our team. Which ultimately may result in Chelsea signing two types of players. Those that will walk into any first team regardless – the type that will not sit easily with Mourinho’s own inflated ego (and thus would be unlikely to be looked at) – or those who really don’t care too much about regular first team football but are more interested in the paycheck. Hardly a recipe for the kind of desire required by Mourinho’s football. Players who have ambition and any fear that they might not get their chance are likely to say stuff your roubles – I can go to another team where I’ll have a much better crack of the whip.

So it is with Abou Diaby and hopefully Walcott. They will be well rewarded at Arsenal. Granted, not as well as they could have done at Chelsea. But their prospects are unlikely to stall in the way Wright-Phillips’ have. I’m not so sure there was much competition for the signature of Togo’s Emmanuel Adebayor, but if anyone can get the best out of an apparently temperamental youngster, it is Arsène Wenger. If Walcott joins, the three signings could make life a little more interesting for the remainder of the campaign. The prospect of Tomas Rosicky joining them is even better. This is the kind of established player that the club need to get on board to prove to Thierry Henry that new arrivals can be the finished article rather than exciting prospects. Wenger has a point in asking if many of the bigger names at Arsenal were stars when they arrived, but there is no disguising that the under investment of recent seasons has finally affected the team in this campaign. The squad is seriously lacking in places and that must be addressed. The blend of youth and experience tilts a little too far to the former at present, and signing someone like Rosicky would do no harm at all.

Chelsea are strong because they have two top drawer players for every position. No-one can afford the quality in depth they enjoy, but Arsenal are not far off a very strong squad if they can hang on to their present stars (Bergkamp excepted for obvious reasons) and fill the gaps now and in the summer. It seems Robert Pires is going to stay and his contribution on Saturday v Boro indicates his mind may now be more settled, which should result in an upturn in his performances. The same goes for Henry – and his hat-trick was undoubted proof. What most assured about the team v Boro was that they didn’t sit on the 4-0 at half-time. They went for it in the second, demonstrating a hunger which we’ve witnessed all too infrequently of late. That hunger will be needed in Arsenal’s pursuit of three cups and runners up spot in the league. As Boro were so under strength, it is difficult to say whether the corner has been turned, but the signs are good. New faces arriving to compete for first team places should also give a massive boost to things. 2005-06 might just still become a season to remember for other reasons than the farewell to Highbury.