Is it time to sell?

I wrote Wednesday about what I thought the reality behind the Henry-to-Barca rumors was. I decided today to follow that up with what I thought Arsenal SHOULD do.

So, here are the facts...

1. Arsenal have not gained ground on ManYoo and Chelsea so far this summer - in fact, they've lost ground on both.
2. Arsenal's most likely high-profile transfer target - Ribery - has already made his way to Bayern Munich.
3. Henry has been a constant distraction over the last 15 months or so with his constant whinging about how much he admires this club or that club.
4. Henry is going to turn 30 about the time the new season begins (August 17).
5. Henry only managed 16 starts in the Premier League last campaign.
6. Henry's goal against ManYoo on January 21st was his only goal against a team that qualified for European competition next season.
7. The "Young Gunners" are probably another year away from being the core of a team that contends for a Premier League or Champions League title
8. The recent "high profile" acquisitions - that's you Rosicky and Hleb - aren't doing the job and don't really seem to fit the system.

Looking at the above facts - I am forced to only one conclusion. Henry and the current crop of Young Gunners aren't going to win a Premier League or Champions League title together. If the goal is to WIN stuff - then it's time to sell Henry before he loses his value. Maybe it will prove to be a year early but better than being a year late. If the goal is to maintain a Champions League spot, manage to get to the knock-out phases of the Champions League and make a graceful, late round exit from the FA Cup then they should by all means keep Henry.

Strikers whose game is based primarily on speed like Henry generally decline rapidly the second their bodies start to betray them. Henry isn't reliant ONLY on his speed but it is the thing that sets his skills apart from guys like Berbatov who are deft and skilled but not blindingly fast. Henry certainly isn't going to get better in his 30s, the question is how quickly will he degrade?

I have to admit, the first thing that struck me this morning as I was reading the gossip columns (a favorite passtime of mine) was that selling Henry to Barca and spending some of the money on David Villa, Fernando Torres, or Darren Bent would make a LOT of sense. None of them are likely to adequately replace the Henry of the early 2000s but guess what, the current edition of Henry isn't likely to do that either. The aforementioned gentlemen have proven to be high class finishers as well as being young and in possession of a little thing I like to call upside.

You could easily see them quickly growing with Hoyte, Clichy, Djourou, Toure, Eboue (as a right wing), Fabregas, Diaby, Walcott (as a left wing), van Persie, and Adebayor to form the core of a squad that has a great chance to challenge for actual honors in 2008-2009. Throw in one or two more strategic acquisitions and the maturation of guys like Denilson and Bendtner and you might really have something.

To stand pat is to maximize the number of points the club will achieve this coming year but it will ultimately minimize the chances that Arsenal will regain a spot atop the Premier League standings.

The only reason I'm holding out hope that all of the above is wrong is that there is a small chance that the only reason that Henry was so ineffective last season was due to being over-worked between Arsenal's heavy 2005-06 schedule followed by the World Cup over the summer. If a summer off has rejuvinated the Frenchman, then maybe Arsenal can challenge ManYoo and Chelsea but unless Arsenal management is certain that is the case, they should serious think about divesting themselves of Henry now before that particular asset has lost its value.