Sol's audition could see Senderos out

The future of our defence now hinges upon how a 35-year-old, who last played for a club in the lowest tier of English professional football, performs against West Ham's fringe players.

Sol Campbell is representing Arsenal tonight in the Reserve match against West Ham, with the aim of securing a move back to Arsenal for the rest of the season. Apparently, the official Arsenal website announced his signature earlier, only to remove the story almost immediately.

The general consensus at the moment isn't exactly in favour of signing him. A quick look through the news tickers and you might as well have just arrived at your local supermarket on the eve of nuclear war, only to see your neighbours reduced to their primal instincts: half a dozen people scrapping for the last loaf of bread, their bloodied faces contorted in feral rage; best friends fighting to the death to reach the tills, throwing electrical appliances at one anothers' heads; women snarling and throwing bleach in each others' eyes in the battle to reach the household products; and even children biting various shoppers' fingers and punching innocent men in the groin, all under the instruction of their parents.

I'm not panicking, but I'm certainly not feeling confident about it, especially as it may ensure the departure of Philippe 'Former-Next-Tony-Adams' Senderos. The Swiss defender has been linked with a move away from the club since the summer, and having made only two appearances in the Carling Cup this season, his demands for first-team football would seem fairly rational, especially with a World Cup in five months to think about. I expect that Campbell's signature would lead to Senderos leaving this month, which is a real shame.

People forget his contribution to the club before his loan spell with Milan. As someone pointed out yesterday, he was an integral part of the defence which took us to the 2006 Champions League Final with clean sheets against Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal - and at the time, he was 21. He was also present throughout a series of clean sheets in the league in 2007-08, repeating the feat against AC Milan and earning himself a year with them. However, he is remembered by many for several costly blunders against Drogba and Torres, and most still seem to think he won't make the grade.

I spoke of this yesterday, but now I'm eager to hear everyone else's opinions. Obviously my own feelings have been made fairly clear, but I can understand Wenger's logic in switching a player who has been alienated from the first team, and is rumoured to be irremediably unsettled, for an influential player with a huge history at the club. I've set up a poll on the sidebar, and would be very grateful if you could let us know which of these two players you'd prefer to be on our books for the rest of the season.