Silvestre - has Wenger bought another crock?

Today, Arsene Wenger put his hand in his pocket and shelled out somewhere in the region of £750,000 for Manchester Utd defender Mikael Silvestre. It's a bizarre transfer that no-one in their right mind could have dreamt up. Not least because it's the first time in 34 years that a Manchester United player has sealed a move to Arsenal.

Why did Man Utd sell Silvestre? Because he was surplus to requirements and spent almost the whole of last season recovering from a serious cruciate ligament injury. He was also entering the final year of his contract - even Man Utd have to balance the books.

Silvestre can play as a centre-back, but Utd already have Rio Ferdinand and Nimanja Vidic there with Wes Brown and John O'Shea for cover, the Frenchman can also play left-back, but Patrice Evra has pretty much nailed down that position. United had agreed to sell Silvestre last summer to Newcastle, but the player refused to join - maybe Ferguson doesn't rate him, but the Scotsman has made mistakes before - selling Jap Staam was a major one.

Having read a few Man Utd forums tonight, the general opinion is that the fans are very disappointed to see Silvestre leave, as the player was well liked and would have provided very good defensive cover. However, many supporters also seem to think that Silvestre is far from bullet-proof and has more than a few mistakes in him, particularly playing in the centre-back role - although that was more often than not when paired with Wes Brown several years ago. As a left-back, Silvestre is still very highly rated.

I have mixed feelings about this signing. First off, Silvestre has just spent a year out injured, and whilst that's not catastrophic for a player who has just turned 31, it's the sort of age where such a lengthy lay-off can downgrade a players ability coming into the last 3-4 years of their career. I hope Arsenal aren't buying a crock, although you can bet his medical was a stringent one.

On the plus side, he's got a lot more experience than Clichy, Djourou or Senderos and can't possibly be as hapless as the latter. So, it's an upgrade that gives Arsenal meaningful strength in depth - Senderos and Djourou are not meaningful strength in depth.

How do I feel about a player who has spent almost 10 years at Man Utd joining Arsenal? For me, it depends on the personality. Silverstre is not detestable in the same way Ferdinand, Neville, Carrick and Rooney are detestable, so I can live with it. However, Wenger now has to turn his attention towards buying a top class defensive midfielder to replace Flamini.

Prior to this news I predicted Arsenal would not finish in the top two; does the signing of Silvestre change anything? Not really, but it does make me more optimistic. The fans needed a little more optimism, and the young players definitely need an older head in there, someone they can look up to and feel reassured when stepping out on the pitch - someone they can talk to in the dressing room who has been there, seen it, done it. For that reason alone, Silvestre is probably a worthwhile signing - injury permitting. Come next May we might discover which of Wenger and Ferguson has gone soft.