In Arsene we rust?

As Wenger faces the most important summer of his career, Alex Dunn reflects on some tough choices.

If the only certainties in life are death and taxes then the only absolutes in the summer are British disappointment at Wimbledon and calls for Arsene Wenger to stop peeling oranges in his pocket and open his wallet. As the dust settles on centre court and the debris of defeat lingers to leave Andy Murray reflecting on how he must raise his game to go from fourth to first, Arsene Wenger will be plotting a similar journey in North London. The Frenchman's vision of sustained growth remains incorruptible but the 'In Wenger we rust' banner spotted at the Emirates at the back end of last season will cut deep. For those supporters long-since exasperated by an Arsenal side which is a perpetual work in progress, Wenger has become no better than the cowboy builder who promises the kitchen extension will be complete tomorrow ad infinitum. As Elvis once warbled, tomorrow never comes. His post-match rhetoric after big-game chokes has begun to resemble Ed Miliband's recent terrifying assessment of public sector strikes when he gave near word-for-word identikit answers to five different questions, to leave his interviewer Damon Green 'getting twinges of what I can only describe as existential doubt'. I'm not sure if existential doubt is contagious but reports suggest there's a strand of it going around London Colney, with Cesc 'Sartre' Fabregas forced to train with a big red 'X' chalked on his shirt, while Samir 'Nietzsche' Nasri questions his very existence after learning he could earn twice as much sat on the bench at Liverpool. Brighter news is that Wenger has drafted in Racing Universitaire d'Alger's Albert Camus for a trial and the early signs suggest he's an improvement on Manuel Almunia. Wenger's mantra has always been evolution over revolution but with half his squad sporting Che t-shirts these days it's difficult to envisage anything other than wholesale changes at the club between now and August 13. Gael Clichy has already joined Manchester City having concluded his trophy cabinet can only house so many Emirates Cups and other more important players are set to follow suit. Fabregas is so desperate to join Barcelona he's taken to leaving his calling card in random Catalunya phone boxes, while Nasri seemingly has no intention of staying even if his captain's departure could see him installed as Arsenal's creative epicentre rather than having to ask politely whenever he wants to prompt from the middle of the field. If nothing else Fabregas' position as captain has surely become untenable whilst he continues to flash his knickers at Barca president Sandro Rosell. Christ, he'd probably coo in his ear like Marilyn to JFK if it sealed the deal. To lose Cesc has become inevitable but to let Nasri run his contract down to a final year is just careless. As Sir Alex Ferguson was quick to attest after his side were played off the field by Barcelona at Wembley in May, football works in cycles and Wenger has demonstrated in the past an ability to build new sides when the lustre of previous versions fades. Wenger's genius has been to know exactly when to sell, as Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit, Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry et al will testify. The difference this time is it is the players calling the shots. No manager in the world would choose to sell either Fabregas or Nasri and yet, with little over a month until the new season gets underway, this is the exact position Wenger finds himself in. In