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Thursday, March 26, 2009

Clichy loss may not be the worst thing to happen to Arsenal

The transfer circus is beginning to pick up pace again as we head towards the next transfer window and whilst many rumours are utter rubbish, such as Jeremie Aliadiere returning to the Gunners, others look a little more plausible. One such story doing the rounds at the minute is that AC Milan are preparing to make a bid for Gael Clichy. The rumour being bounced around, depending on where you get your news from, is that they will offer Arsenal between £12 and £15million for the French left-back.

I will admit that I am a big fan of the 23-year-old and believe he has done really well since taking over from Cashley at full-back. However, would the sale of Clichy be the worst thing that could happen to the Gunners this summer? Left-back is a position where Arsenal are lucky enough to have plenty of options and should Clichy leave I believe the likes of Armand Traore or Kieran Gibbs would do just as good a job given enough time.

Traore has spent this season on loan at Portsmouth and when I have been fortunate enough to see him play, he has looked like he is developing into a good player. However, my number one choice to fill in for Clichy would be Gibbs. The 19-year-old has been exemplary in the games he has played this season and arguably has been the best player on the pitch in some of Arsenal’s FA Cup matches this year.

When Arsene Wenger took over at the club he said it would take ten years to develop English players with the technical abilities he desired and I feel Gibbs is a prime example of that. Wenger, as we know, is always keen to give the youngster a chance and I believe Gibbs could become the next England left-back given the time.

Clichy has hinted that he could be tempted with a move to AC Milan and if it potentially came down to a choice of concentrating efforts on persuading him to stay or Cesc Fabregas, I know who I would choose.

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