Quote Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory View Post
Verm’s contribution is debatable. But losing a player and then going a mad last minute dash to find a replacement is something we should be looking to avoid. That’s something we all should be able to agree on and you must admit, we put ourselves in a poor negotiating position if we sell then go to the market with little time left on the clock. If there are plenty of better options that can contribute more than Verm, why haven’t we signed them already or why can’t we do the deal before he goes? That’s my main concern. Because if we sell now and look later, clubs may smell the desperation and then try to hold us to ransom and knowing Wenger, he won’t have a bar of it. That means we’ll either gamble on an internal option or go for a cheap player that’s worse than Verm.
I don't think it would be a mad dash, I expect Wenger has thought Vermaelen would leave for some time now but it may be the case we were awaiting another offer, probably so it would be outside of England. Yes it apparently doesn't leave a huge amount of time but I would reckon he already knows what he is going to do.

If it came to it and we sold Vermaelen with no apparent replacement then that wouldn't be ideal but so far as I am concerned we aren't talking about super quality we could probably replace him at the next available opportunity.

And due to that I don't think we would be in a position of being held to ransom.