“Panic on the streets of London,
Panic on the streets of Birmingham.”

The words of Morrissey et al have never seemed more poignant than now, following a week of rioting in our nation’s capital which spread to the West Midlands among various other places. Yet the lyrics from The Smiths’ song can also at this moment, seemingly be applied to the world of football. As far as London is concerned, I infer this to reference Arsenal and for Birmingham, read Aston Villa.

Now, it would be something of a calumny to suggest that Arsene Wenger has ‘lost his touch’, is ‘no longer the right man for the job’ or any other cliché you feel like throwing out there to describe the current state of the Frenchman’s managing of the club.

As I type this, the hour mark has just passed on El Clasico and the scoreline is 2-2 in the Spanish Super Cup first leg. It seems quite fitting to be watching Barcelona while writing about Arsenal. In terms of their style of play, Arsenal are one of the few sides capable of coming close to playing like the current European Champions. However in terms of trophies, at least in recent years, they’re a galaxy apart. And that gulf only seems likely to be widening as, again as I type, there is confirmation from Arsenal that Fabregas is indeed signing for Barcelona. Finally.

I imagine even Arsenal fans will breathe a (small) sigh of relief that at last this saga is over, and they can now move on. But just how will they move on? It would be somewhat incongruous of Wenger’s time at the Gunners to ‘splash the cash’, increasingly the case in recent years. One of those he did spend big on, Samir Nasri, looks set to follow Fabregas out of the exit door.

Now though, he certainly has the funds and undoubtedly the need to sign players with proven quality (as opposed to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, a player with vast potential but whom I fail to see playing a major part this season and yet he was happy to shell out £15m on). They are crying out for a solid centre half. Dann and Cahill have been linked to the club and either would be ideal, while the goalkeeper still looks a weak area and despite the talents of Wilshere and Ramsey, money will have to be spent to recover from losing Fabregas and possibly Nasri.

Aston Villa meanwhile, are for my money a team on a downward spiral. Three sixth place finishes in a row under Martin O’Neill, they struggled under Gerard Houllier for large parts of last season before finishing a disappointing ninth, and have in their new manager, a man who was twice relegated with their arch rivals.

They have sold Ashley Young, Brad Friedel and Stewart Downing. Young and Friedel have been suitably replaced with N’Zogbia and Given respectively but last term’s Player of the Season Downing will be a big miss, while they’ve never properly replaced James Milner who departed a year ago.

Putting bias aside, and resisting the urge to replace the E’s with pound signs, Darren Bent is a natural goal scorer. However, an injury or loss of form to him and they’ll be relying on the goal machine that Emile Heskey isn’t or the never-quite-going-to-make-it Gabby Agbonlahor, who appears to have regressed over the past couple of seasons. Add to these a chairman who seems more concerned with his bank balance than the balance of the side, and it could be quite a struggle for Villa.

I’m not suggesting either of the sides will be relegated; far from it. I do expect another trophy-less season from Arsenal and a drop into the battle for the Europa League rather than Champions League unless Mr Wenger does spend some money. For Villa, last season they slipped from European outsiders to a safe bet for the top ten, and I predict a further fall from grace into the black hole of mid-table obscurity.