Arsene Wenger has dug Arsenal into a hole they cannot get themselves out of... from the egocentric manager to gutless owners, this is the club's worst transfer window in recent history

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Gunners fan Peter Wood from Le Grove writes for Sportsmail on a turbulent week and an even worse transfer window at Arsenal.

Make no mistake, Arsenal are overseeing the worst transfer window in the recent history of the club, and damn, there's been some bad ones. This debacle is 10 years in the making and it all centres around Arsene Wenger’s ineptitude, lack of vision and his failure to learn from past mistakes.

As it stands, six players stand to leave on free transfers next summer with a market value of over £100m. The club has known about this impending disaster all year, and did little to navigate it. 

In fact, Arsene Wenger played up the issue as a positive, stating: ‘It is not an issue, I think it's an ideal situation.’ 

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Arsene Wenger is overseeing the worst transfer window in recent history at Arsenal

The club made a huge mistake allowing the 'egotistical' manager to sign another contract

This comment was made all the more absurd after he pinned last season's decline on his own contract saga when he said: ‘I think at some stage I did not think it would be a handicap for my commitment and it was not. But it was a bit of a handicap because it created a climate of insecurity and a lack of clarity about my person that maybe did not help at some stage.’

The club made two terrible mistakes this summer. The first was allowing Wenger to sign on for two more years despite overseeing years of stagnation and latterly, outright decline. 

The second mistake was allowing him to consolidate his power grip by not insisting on a Director of Football who could take over our shoddy transfer policy and our seemingly non-existent contract renewals process. 

Alexis Sanchez is seeking a move to Manchester City and Wenger should have let him go

Similarly with fellow contract rebel Mesut Ozil, ship them out and allow the summer to rebuild

The result? Wenger has been allowed to indulge his egotistical fantasy of holding uncommitted stars to their deals, which has now resulted in an appalling start to the season.

Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, and Alex Chamberlain should have been sold at the start of the summer. We all knew Wenger would eventually cave to the realities of 'soccernomics' and sell because he has a history of stating players won’t leave and then they’re shipped off in late August. 

Exactly the same charade occurred in 2011 when Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas moved. Why didn’t we move the rebels on early and replace them with enough time to give the new players a pre-season? Why are we at August 30, desperately trying to sell names who don’t want to be at the club?

Outside the contract rebels, Wenger’s attempt at a squad rebuild has been tepid at best. He added a left back who looks solid, and a new striker, both of which he dropped for the third game of the season. 

The same happened with Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in 2011, Wenger has not learned

Outside the contract rebels, the manager's attempts to rebuild have been tepid at best

Arsenal were always more than two players away from competing for the league, so it’s baffling he’s been so shy with the cheque book.

He’s also been shy with the sale of players who are clearly not good enough. Kieran Gibbs was shipped out to West Brom on Wednesday for £7m, a pitiful return for a player too highly paid to command higher.

The manager couldn’t sell Carl Jenkinson because he’s too handsomely paid. 

Oxlade-Chamberlain might still stay after his disgraceful Liverpool performance because he wants to play centre midfield. 

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could still stay despite his disgraceful showing at Liverpool

Jack Wilshere, Lucas Perez, David Ospina, Mathieu Debuchy, and Calum Chambers are all still clogging up the wage bill.

How has this been allowed to happen? Because Arsenal's owner is gutless and at the mercy of a manager who has been dead to elite football for 10 years. 

The best the fans can hope for this summer is we clear the dross, bank the cash, and survive this season so we can sack Wenger next summer and rebuild. 

Remember, this isn't on the players. It's on the manager that proudly oversees every disastrous detail of the playing operations.