The first player Arsene should be signing

Wenger has been talking about the Gallas contract situation again:

“In the next two or three weeks we will not deal with any contract now because we have games every three days and we will focus on our targets. I feel we are winning the battle to keep him but in this domain you have to be open and be ready for anything. He is in a position where he is free to sign for anybody he wants and tomorrow somebody could come up and offer him a massive amount of money and I don't know if he will sign or not. He knows we want to keep him and that we make an effort but it has to be, as it always has been historically, within our set budget."

I suppose it could be said that this is a typically professional approach from Wenger. Just as Birmingham comes before Barcelona, we have a few weeks now which will make or break the season while we have a couple of months to sort out Gallas' contract. Evidently, it would be in the team's best interests to concentrate on the next run of matches and not get confused about priorities; one game at a time, one season at a time.

But should we be worried about this? It's nearly April, and again we're in a position where one of our most important players could sign up for someone else in the next five minutes and leave for free in the summer. Gallas has been sensational this season and there's no question that he should be here in September - so is it time we broke the over-30s one-year policy?

From what I can gather, the issue here has nothing to do with wages. Gallas is one of our top earners and doesn't seem to be after any more money, and is simply interested in maintaining his salary while keeping his place at a top club for the next two years. He will turn 33 towards the end of the summer transfer window - old for a wide, attacking player like Freddie Ljungberg was, but less so for a centre-back - and until he picked up his current injury he was on the form of his life. He and Vermaelen, as a pairing, have been more effective than any at the top of the table this season, and had it not been for injuries in front of and beside them (as well as a couple of clangers behind them) they would almost certainly have contributed to more clean sheets.

There is a small worry now that Gallas' injuries are the beginning of the end, and that with his match fitness he could soon lose that crucial yard of pace. Wenger recently pointed out that he has taken this into account, and he seems confident that the defender will be at the top of his game for another year.

But with the back four finally looking the way we want it, and Gallas showing no real signs of slowing down just yet, a one-year contract may be overly cautious and such an offer might damage our chances of keeping him. Could Gallas last another two years?

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