In the return of an old summer feature, Newcastle-Online will be checking out our rivals to assess what players in their squad are both available, and good enough to play for Newcastle United. With a busy summer coming up, we hope to provide intriguing alternatives to the names the media keep bringing up. Proceeding alphabetically as always, we first turn our attentions to London Woolwich, these days known as Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger has over recent years kept together a large squad of players, with a first team brimming with continental talent, and a copious amount of talented youngsters waiting to force their way into the first team. In fact, the Arsenal squad can be divided into several categories. The first two, namely the indispensable first teamers such as Thierry Henry, and the youngsters currently breaking into the first team squad such as Abou Diaby, can for now be considered as out of reach for any club outside of the European elite, as Wenger would be determined to keep hold of these players.

There are players however, who previously considered as youngsters on verge of securing a regular first team place, have not quite met Arsene Wenger’s high expectations, and now find themselves behind the newest batch of youngsters in the pecking order. One prime example would be Mathieu Flamini, who has of late been struggling to feature for the Gunners. This is a player, who over recent seasons had received critical acclaim for his performances, yet such acclaim has never been enough to convince Wenger, and it is clear that Flamini does not possess the technical ability to play for Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal.

This does not mean that he is a bad player however. In fact, he could be an asset for the majority of Premiership clubs. A defensive midfielder by trade, he can also put in a good shift in the full back positions if required. Such versatility would really help us plug gaps in the squad without breaking the bank. As of this moment, we only have three or maybe four central midfielders depending on what Allardyce wants to do with Kieron Dyer, and we are thus perhaps a bit short in this area. Nicky Butt is not getting much younger, but by signing Flamini, our central midfield would most likely be sufficient for the next few seasons.

Another typical squad player at Arsenal is the youngster who never gets the chance to feature in the Premiership. Thus Arsene Wenger is very receptive to loaning the player in question to a rival club. If they do well, they may get another chance at Arsenal, but if they don’t, they often end up doing well at another Premiership club. Players that never made it at Arsenal, but who have done well at other clubs include Steve Sidwell, David Bentley, and Matthew Upson. These three players have all arguably been the best player at one of the clubs they have played for recently. This is further evidence that not making it at Arsenal is not necessarily an indication of lack of ability.

So which youngsters at Arsenal could Wenger be happy to see leave? Justin Hoyte could be one such player. The England U21 international is a strong powerful full back, who would add significant height to our back line. Admittedly, he would be a bit of a risk, given that his loan spell at Sunderland wasn’t a roaring success, but he seems to have matured since then. Recently, we have been a bit too impatient with young players, and it is possible that Justin Hoyte could help sort out the full back berth in the future. For what its worth, he certainly outperformed popular Newcastle transfer target Leighton Baines at the European Under-21 championships. At his age, Wenger may be ready to sell rather than loan.

Armand Traore and Johan Djourou are another two defenders that could have good futures ahead of them. If we find ourselves in urgent need of additional defenders in August, they may be worth a loan move, but hopefully Allardyce will have achieved his intentions of signing more experienced defenders.

However, the best signing we could make from Arsenal this summer would be their former vice-chairman, David Dein, whom recently resigned from Arsenal. If Ashley wants to have a chief executive with previous experience of running a very successful and efficient football club, David Dein is the best man for the job.

Would you like to see these players at Newcastle? Anyone else at Arsenal that you would like us to sign? Have your say.