Could Gilberto's likely exit mean a make or break season for Diaby?

Its looking more and more likely that Gilberto will follow the Arsenal central midfield exodus by signing a deal with Greek side Panathinaikos.

If indeed he does leave then I wish him good luck. He has been a superb servant for Arsenal and an excellent professional throughout his time at the club.

I won't forget Gilberto and what he has done for Arsenal. An excellent player who did a great job for us. He has a brilliant attitude and even when he was over-looked as captain last season and barely featured, you hardly heard a grumble for him.

Young players could learn bundles from Gilberto just by the way he conducts himself on and off the pitch. And Arsenal will miss him, not just his experience but his role in the squad.

I would be more than happy for him to stay, but you can't argue that at his age he needs regular football and it's likely he won't get that at Arsenal.

This would mean yet another central midfield player leaving and you could say we need to strengthen this position for the new season. It's hard to believe the amount of players that play in such an important position have left.

We seemed top heavy with central midfielders last season and now its the complete opposite!

Many Gooners have an opinion on who play alongside Cesc next season. Mine is that I'd love Yaya Toure to sign but that seems very unlikely. My strong feelings is that Le Boss will promote from within.

Is Diaby the answer to our problems? With all the recent departures in his favourite position Diaby will not have a better opportunity to make the central midfield place his own. But can he do that and does Wenger have enough faith in him to do so?

More importantly do you, my fellow Gooners feel Diaby can take this chance and finally show us what he is made of alongside Cesc?

He has been, unfairly in my views, compared to Patrick Vieira. There is only one Patrick Vieira and Diaby is similar only in appearance. I've no doubt though that Diaby can play in this position but only when he learns to play the ball at the right time and becomes more aggressive.

He will only improve by playing there, and Le Boss has been smart by playing Diaby wide to allow him the chance to improve other aspects of his game, such as positional sense.

In many ways this is a make or break season for Diaby. He will never have a better chance to nail this position and make it his own. Lets hope he can!

Keep it Goonerish.......