Speaking at a pre-Emirates Cup press conference Wenger said: “I speak to many players who have been here because I keep good connections with them.

“He has gone through a difficult period in the last season and I am aware he wants to come here.

“I think Patrick is a legend here and he would always like to come back to this club. That would be his first choice.”

The 33 year old made 406 appearances for Arsenal, winning three League Championships and three FA Cups in the process. He also captained the club between 2002 and 2005 and would bring a wealth of experience to Wenger’s young side. However, the Arsenal boss has never re-signed a player and said any possible deal is still a long way off.

“At the moment we need to look at the level of experience in our squad to make this kind of decision,” he said.

“There is a football decision and then there’s the psychological impact of a player of that stature coming in.

“We are nowhere near to making a decision like that. But it is a possibility. We don’t rule it out and we don’t say we will do it. That’s my decision at the moment.”

In other transfer news, Bordeaux president Jean-Louis Triaud has been quoted as saying Arsenal have made a bid for striker Marouane Chamakh. Wenger was questioned about these claims during the press conference, but as ever he remained tight-lipped.

“He is responsible for his statements,” said the Gunners boss.

“I wouldn’t like to comment on any phone calls I made during the day because, at the moment, I have a hundred phone calls. The only thing I can say is that we are nowhere near to signing anybody at the moment.”

Many had expected, including myself, that Roma would come to the Emirates and defend for their lives having had such a poor record against English sides in the past, with their 7-1 defeat to Manchester United just a few years ago a possible stark reminder to what can happen to the Giallorossi on English soil. However they came to play on Tuesday night, certainly aiding Arsenal’s game plan, as unlike so many sides that come to the Grove now Roma opted not to try and grind out a result.

The game was as open as they come which suited Arsenal and the hope would be that if the game is anything like the first the Gunners can steal an away goal. Despite only taking a one goal advantage into the game my belief is that we will be more than capable of nicking a vital away goal, as long as the ball doesn’t drop to Nicklas Bendtner! It would be easy to criticise the Danish forward for his three missed opportunities but I won’t as I feel he has come in for enough stick in recent weeks and hopefully won’t get too much game time once Eduardo and Emmanuel Adebayor are back to full fitness.

I was extremely impressed by the way Arsene Wenger set up his team in mid-week as well, despite Bendtner having to play on the left wing. Samir Nasri reveled in his role just behind Robin van Persie and caused the Roma defence all kinds of problems. So as the old saying goes if it ain’t broke don’t fix it and I’d hope Wenger sticks with the French youngster in the same role for the trip to Italy.

The positives coming out of Tuesday’s game for me outweigh the negatives of not taking a bigger lead into the second leg. Arsenal’s injury plagued squad have enough quality to see them into the quarter-finals of the Champions League based on what we have seen. The Gunners have a mixed away record this season in Europe but always seem to pull it out of the bag when they are in Italy, last seasons win against AC Milan the prime example.

Arsenal’s Premier League title dreams have all but gone but the dream is still alive in Europe, as well as the FA Cup, and if they can get an away goal and then a kind draw in the quarter-finals with the big named players set to return before the semi-finals and final there is no reason why Arsenal can’t go one step further than the 2006 disappointment.

I had believed the Arseblogger (who is now on suicide watch) when he said Djourou wasn’t going anywhere, turns out we were all wrong and Djourou’s off to Birmingham City to get better. Good for us, maybe when he comes back he’ll be good enough to replace Gallas. Speaking of which, if I’m Toure or Gilberto, it’s going to be awfully hard for me to take orders from Gallas, did AW even consider that angle? Why do I get a sick feeling he didn’t? You have two veterans who have experience with the captaincy and have provided leadership roles but you hand it out to a mouthy eye-rolling indolent because of the French connection. Fuck.

Here’s a showdown. Lawrie Sanchez thinks we’re not going to be contending for the league title while Wenger thinks we have a shot at it. Realistically speaking, Sanchez couldn’t be more right:

“I’m not sure Arsenal can quite bridge the gap between themselves and the top two. When you look at the investment made at both Chelsea and Manchester United, and then see the investment Arsenal have made, then I don’t think it’s going to be enough. “

It’s not exactly rocket science here, you reap what you sow and we haven’t been doing much sowing this summer. The extremely credible Sun is running a headline titled “Arsene: I’ll sign new deal soon“. Yeah, these are the same people who confirmed Gilberto would be captain the same day Gallas was appointed. How do you get that wrong? This less sensational Sky Sports story is a little more subdued about the same subject.

I found this rather amusing, Eduardo seems a little nervous about settling into England. He’s looking at Shevchenko’s pathetic season and is hoping that that curse doesn’t strike him. Eduardo talks like he’s got the work ethic of Moses and appears fairly confident that if he puts in the work, the results will follow. He’s fighting for his fitness ahead of the Fulham game which I hope he does because with Adebayor out, this is his moment to shine.

You want an Arsenal Preview? Look no further than this. Subscribe to the feed, I hope to have some highlights posted for the Fulham game.

Dein leaves and everyone prints Wenger is sure to follow. Henry leaves so he suggests Wenger might. Capello gets fired and the Wenger to Spain trash starts. Ljunberg leaves and he suggests the Arsenal ‘era’ is done. Of all the articles and press that Arsenal have gotten this off-season, not one source can be sighted as having Arsene quoted as saying that he might be considering leaving Arsenal. The best anybody can come up with as him saying that he’s not talking contract right now.

So when I heard that Arsene was in contracts talk the last thing I felt was relief because I, along with every Gooner, knows he’s here until he retires or dies. The board wants him and he wants Arsenal, the rest really doesn’t matter. AW isn’t someone who will attach himself to a player, he’s attached himself to Arsenal, not to Henry, Ljunberg, Vieira, Bergkamp or anyone else. Players play for a few years, managers manage for decades and unless there are philosophical differences between Arsenal and Wenger about how to manage the game, he’ll be here forever.

Robin van Persie echoes this sentiment and realizes the current squad needs Arsene Wenger and can’t function without him because since it’s designed entirely by him:

“It’s important Arsene is here for the long-term and signs a new contract. If he is going to leave, and I don’t think he will, we’ll see what happens then.”

Wenger’s hailing RVP as “a complete team player” that’s been years in the making. But before I get too excited about all this haling and backing of personnel it’s important to realize we’re in pre-season where even though games count for something they don’t really count. Continuing with this theme of affection Cesc Fabregas is the latest to fall in love with Eduardo but has the senses to not compare the Crozillian to Henry.

The Community Shield happened over the weekend, Gunnerblog’s got an Arsenal perspective on the game and says we’re in pretty good shape when compared to our rivals. Apparently Gallas is ecstatic that people are writing Arsenal off. He also admits eating babies. There’s also a pretty nice read in the Telegraph which picks Arsenal to win a trophy but points to our lack of size (Rosicky, Hleb, Fabregas) as a worrying factory, especially when compared with some past players (Campbell, Vieira, Edu, Kanu). Thought I’d mention that Sol Campbell might be on his way to England duty, who would’ve thunk that a year ago?

If you’re like me and living a trillion miles away from Europe you want Setanta Sports News to happen, GolTV’s not cutting it for me.

Thanks for reading. Try the feed, it might be worth it.