Someone's Had Their Eyebrows Waxed

I'm now so bored of stories related to Cesc Fabregas impending transfer to Barcelona, that I don't bother reading any. Arsenal have already been down this road with Nicolas Anelka, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry. The common denominator in all three players being Real Madrid and Barcelona and their illegal tactics to try and force Arsenal to sell a player they want to keep.

If a star player wants to leave, there's not much a club can do to keep him. You can offer him an new improved contract, promise to sign better players or even change the formation of the team to suit him. If that fails, then you have to let him go and try to get a good transfer fee. That's the difficult part.

Arsenal have obviously done their best to keep Cesc but the young Spaniard wants to join his boyhood club. Now it's over to Ivan Gazidis to show us why Arsenal signed him. Business is his forte, being a tough negotiator must be something that he's very good at. Arsenal fans await the results.

With Cesc leaving for a large transfer fee, Arsenal will have to fill a void. The first thing that fans have to realize is that you can't replace Cesc. There is no like for like. But if Wenger is under immense pressure to sign big name players, then when Cesc departs, that pressure will increase tenfold.

Cesc isn't the only jewel in Arsenal's crown. Robin van Persie is the other. His injuries, however, have prevented Arsenal fans from seeing him consistently sparkle. The World Cup will no doubt bring out the best in the Dutchman and perhaps make Arsenal fans forget about losing Cesc. I wouldn't bet against Van Persie winning the Golden Boot - and what you don't get with the ex-Feynoord striker is a desire to eventually move back to his boyhood club.

Barcelona and Real Madrid are detestable when it comes to pursuing a player under a long-term contract with another club. FIFA and UEFA have shown themselves to be weak when it comes to policing the "tapping up" of players. The use of current Barcelona players to "persuade" Cesc to join is a way around this problem but it shows a lack of respect to Arsenal.

The replacement for Fabregas is now the talk of all Gooners. A friend of mine in London told me that Yoann Gourcuff would be signing for Arsenal today. Yesterday, I sent a text to a friend in New York telling him of the news. Gourcuff is in South Africa with the French squad preparing for the World Cup. All French players have been banned from taking part in any transfer negotiations. It's now Tuesday in Europe. Gourcuff still hasn't signed for Arsenal, and I now look like a clown.

The "Silly Season" is addictive but leaves you feeling empty. The best way to get through it, is to ignore it. The January transfer window is a lot easier to handle because the regular domestic season is still being played, but without any Arsenal matches to digest, the summer transfer season consumes most of my attention.

That's why Friday's opening World Cup matches can't come soon enough. Until then the NBA Finals will help pass the time as I try to stop myself from getting caught up in rumors on whether Joe Cole or Joe Hart have signed for Arsenal.

It's now time for me to stop looking like a clown.

Keep it Arsenal