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When referees started becoming household names, I could just about cope with it. But football agents… what exactly do they do? I'll tell you what they do. They reach for their calculators and press the % key until it adds up to something obscene. Forget the fans, and forget the players themselves. It's about money. Initiated by agents and fuelled by the media, the transfer tornado is growing to dangerous proportions. Yet there is hope, for every now and then we are reminded what football is all about.
This week, Philippe Senderos stood at the eye of the storm. With clouds gathering around him, this unassuming young defender calmly re-stated his commitment to Arsenal and his desire for a long-term contract. And I don't know about you, but I enjoyed every word.
"I would love to stay," he said. "This year has been great and I thank everyone who stood by me when I was injured. I now have good friends at Arsenal and that's what you need." Absobloodylutely!
In the two years since he joined, Senderos has worked hard to establish himself. It wasn't easy: for awhile, it looked as though Wenger had stumbled upon another Stepanovs. Early performances were patchy and led to some nervy sideways glances from the terraces. But when we needed him most, the boy came good. He did well enough to keep Campbell on the bench for the cup final. In the driving rain of Cardiff, he played with huge spirit, absolute focus and enormous determination… earning his medal, earning our admiration and almost certainly earning a new contract.
I know that Arsenal supporters the world over feel this way, because I've checked. Sky Sports pundits have him listed as our joint ninth best player of the season, alongside Quincy; yet, on the same Planet Football web site, Arsenal fans placed him second, ahead of Toure, Campbell, Cole and Lauren – and just behind Henry. Perhaps second is going a little too far (after all, Fabregas was a revelation), but it's certainly more realistic than ninth.
How quickly things change. Being able to talk about Senderos in the same breath as Toure and Campbell is good news. We love Toure because he has passion written all over his face; passion for football and passion for Arsenal. It's starting to look like Senderos was cast in the same mould. He could turn out be one of the first names on the team sheet. And that's just the kind of stability you need, when the transfer tornado keeps sweeping into town.