WHO WILL BE NEXT SEASON'S REVELATION FOR ARSENAL?

Three years ago Cesc Fabregas burst into the first team to make the central midfield berth his own in the wake of Patrick Vieira's transfer to Juventus. Two years ago it was the turn of Robin van Persie and Alexander Hleb to claim the accolade of most improved player. And last year, well it was a bumper year, as you could argue that Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, Emmanuel Adebayor, Mathieu Flamini and even Theo Walcott took giant steps forward in their game.

So who will it be next season?

While I'm hoping that all Arsenal's players improve their game, I reckon that the players who will shine most will be among the newest additions to the team.

I expect great things of Carlos Vela and Samir Nasri, although I'm aware that it will take them time to adjust to the pace and hard tackling of the Premier League. Up front I'm hoping that Walcott can start increasing his accuracy in front of goal, while Nicklas Bendtner could also be one to watch, even though I suspect he'll be an even bigger prima donna than Adebayor if he can notch up an impressive number of goals.

It'll be interesting to see where Arsene Wenger plays Alexandre Song this season, as I believe the Cameroon international could truly be great, while Abou Diaby falls into the same camp, but I have to admit that I've been a bit disappointed by Diaby so far, though I realise that he's been played out of position. And staying in midfield, it'll be interesting to see how often Denilson is used in the forthcoming campaign. If he can't establish himself as a regular in the first team, then I reckon he could move on to pastures new.

And then there are our youth players. New signing Aaron Ramsey has been dubbed as the new Steven Gerrard, so it'll be good to see him get some time on the pitch. Kieran Gibbs and Mark Randall have both returned from successful loan spells, while Jay Simpson was voted PFA player of the year for League One thanks to a great season at Millwall.

But the players I'd most like to see getting some experience in the first team - most likely as substitutes - are Fran Merida, Havard Nordveit, Armand Traore, Henri Lansbury, Rhys Murphy and the ridiculously talented Jack Wilshere. I'm guessing Carling Cup appearances will offer them their best chance to impress.

Lastly, it would be good to see our more fragile players getting a decent injury-free run. By that, of course, I mean Robin van Persie and Tomas Rosicky (remember him?).

But the player I'm backing above all the rest is our Crozilian striker Eduardo. The 25-year-old looks like he'll make a full recovery from the horrific leg injury he suffered in February and he is astounding medical experts by the speed in which he's progressing. A dozen goals last season - where if you'll remember he also missed the first part of the campaign through injury - was a decent haul, but if he can get match fit and avoid injury, I don't think he'll miss as many chances as our top scorer Adebayor tends to.

I'll be putting on a bet that Dudu becomes our top scorer this season and at 14-1 for finishing top scorer in the Premier League, I reckon that's worth a punt too.

That's quite a list of players I want to see wowing us Gooners this season and I've no doubt that one or two will firmly establish their credentials as first team regulars.

But what do you lot think? Who do you reckon will be in contention for most improved player at the end of the 2008/09 season? Share your thoughts here using our comments section below this post. 

Comments

[dan]

man, there's usually a lot i don't know and that includes arsenal, but what you seem to forget is that we just lost three big players(flam, hleb, giblerto, oh and jens). even with vela nasri and ramsey(the next gerrard? not this year.) the current squad finishes no higher than third and no trophies. replacing is not strengthening. when we bring in zhirkov and xabi or the like then we can get optimistic.