It's not often I'd support Manchester United but...

So Alex Hleb and Emmnuel Adebayor look like they're going to leave Arsenal and we're all getting used to the idea.

Hleb's intentions have been clear for some time, Adebayor's mixed messages perhap less so.

But does being a 'big' club make any difference? Does it matter if we have debts to repay or a reputation that puts us in the second echelon of world football?

I think not.

Chelsea have limitless funds, Manchester United have just done a historic double and yet....despite their respective wealth and reputations, both of them look set to lose key players this summer.

Love them or loathe them, Frank Lampard and Cristiano Ronaldo have both been impressive performers over the years and yet it seems that both will be on their way out of England.

Player power rules.

But when FIFA President Sepp Blatter suggests that no club should hold onto an unhappy player, that keeping the likes of Ronaldo when he wants to join Real Madrid is tantamount to slavery, we have to draw the line.

Forget the fact that all the players I've mentioned are on salaries which any of us would love to 'earn'.

Forget the fact that they are all too willing to sign extended deals if it means an increase in their incomes, albeit at the cost of an extended contract.

Blatter, more than anyone else, should realise that while footballers are the key to the popularity of the game, and 'stars' are what keeps the magic in the game, without transfer fees, without some sort of stability at clubs, football as we know it would die.

If nothing else, smaller clubs, whose money trickles down all the way to the grassroots level of the game, would lose out with more money going into players' pockets, a situation that already occurs to some extent.

But while players lack the loyalty or dedication to be one-club men anymore, does that mean that contracts, legal agreements, are not worth the paper they are written on?

I'm not sure Blatter would accept that on many other matters and who's to say his opinion wouldn't be different if Arsenal or United were tapping up Sergio Ramos or Iker Casillas?