Toure sale suggests Wenger has made his decision in the feud between his central defenders and has picked Gallas. Given Kolo's inconsistency last year (and a belief in the club that he has slipped since contracting malaria in 2008 and won't get back to his peak), that's understandable. Moreover, 15 million pounds is excellent business. As for a replacement, I suspect Wenger will look at Sakho of PSG, Bassong or perhaps shift Alex Song back as a central defender. All are at least six feet tall and fit the technical and athletic profile sought by Wenger. We'll probably see more of Djourou as well and he did make good strides.
Wenger will have 40 million pounds from the sales of Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor as well as substantial savings in wages and I suspect the board will let him spend on replacements. If that happens, I suspect we'll see a central midfielder come in to challenge Denilson or Song (assuming he doesn't get shifted backwards).
The bigger challenge is Arsenal will need to reinvent how they attack without Adebayor at the point of the spear because our supporters, who have hailed his sale, were either too clueless to understand his role or too blinkered in their hatred of him for his dalliances with other clubs. And they've erased his scoring record in Champions League from their memories. That said, 25 million pounds was tough to turn down. If he's a change-room malcontent at Arsenal, where he had a guaranteed starting spot, one wonders what could happen at City.
So we'll have to change because I don't see Bendnter assuming Ade's role as a hold-up line leader on full-time basis, more as a second option off the bench. It may mean a return to the system employed with Henry, where RVP or Eduardo acts as the lead striker. Rather than play up top, they'll probably drift to the or right and try to draw out defenders out wide and try to beat them or look for midfielders to arrive late.