Would it have been such a bad idea? I’m sure there are fans out there ready to disagree with me and with good reason - he’s old, past his prime, the unnecessary media circus and his United past are probably a few reasons why many Gooners would rule out such a move. But then there are reasons why it could have been beneficial.

Last season when he trained with the team, it seemed to be helpful for both parties. Beckham is a Londoner and his home is within a stone’s throw of the training ground. He got to spend some time back in London, Posh got her shopping fix and he stayed in good condition for LA Galaxy and the England squad.

As for Arsenal, Wenger seemed full of praise for the positive influence that he had in training and was apparently helping a few of the younger players with their dead ball skills which couldn’t have been such a bad thing. Whatever you want to say about Beckham in terms of personality or ability, when it comes down to the footballing side of things he’s still a model professional and he brings a lot of experience at the top level.

In those games when Cesc is feeling knackered (like he understandably does from time to time) if he’s had a long run of games then you could do a lot worse than having someone like Becks to come on for the last 10-15 minutes. I’m not saying Beckham’s as good as Cesc but he’d be handy cover should Cesc be injured for a big game and experience helps as United have shown with the back-up roles that Giggs and Scholes have these days.

I don’t think that there’s anyone who would disagree that more cover is needed in centre midfield (Wenger obviously still needs to sign a defensive midfielder as well) and we could have done a lot worse than have someone like Beckham to see us through to the transfer window. This is obviously all academic now as he seems to have chosen AC Milan for the next couple of months but it was just a thought. There might even be some who agree with me!