The African Cup of Nations is no more likely to have caught Arsene Wenger on the hop than Avram Grant. Both Arsenal and Chelsea knew what they were getting into when they signed African players and I expect both clubs to cope with the loss of various individuals for up to six weeks in their own ways - Arsenal with their ready-made resources, Chelsea with their readily-available funds.
Coincidentally, for each club it's the loss of an Ivory Coast player in a key position that each have most to compensate for. Chelsea can soften the extended loss of Didier Drogba to their attack by signing my former team-mate Nicolas Anelka - a player who would strengthen just about any team - while Arsenal have a few options when it comes to replacing Kolo Toure alongside William Gallas. It wouldn't surprise me if Wenger turned to Bakari Sagna, his right-back, to solve the disruption to central defence; don't forget he converted Toure from full-back.
OK, it would require a couple of changes and, knowing Wenger, he would want to keep those to a minimum. He has like-for-like replacements in Philippe Senderos and Johan Djourou, who has been recalled from Birmingham, and he could even bring in Gilberto Silva, who has played at centre-back before, but I like Sagna. He has a no-nonsense approach to defending, is quick and strong and uses the ball well. He has also settled in remarkably quickly since arriving from French football and I believe he would take the switch in his stride.
It remains to be seen whether the calls of the African competition on some of England's leading clubs will decide the outcome of the Premier League and obviously Chelsea, who will be without four players, are the hardest hit. But I believe that signing Anelka would strengthen their cause; it would even strengthen Manchester United's. He is a world-class player.
I never understood the concerns some people had about him; I found him to be a breath of fresh air at Arsenal. It was just his leaving that left a bad taste. He was very young when he arrived at Highbury and quite shy. You would have to force him to greet you in the morning, but that was just because he didn't want to jump into your space. And because we had a few French players even then, there wasn't a great urgency for him to learn the language.
But he was great to both play and train with. I thought Gerard Houllier made a huge mistake by not signing him permanently when he was at Liverpool on loan. All I know is that he went on to keep Manchester City afloat and he's been doing the same for Bolton this season. When you think about the illustrious career Thierry Henry had at Arsenal - that could easily have been Anelka's.
I'm sure the necessary funds will be made available to Grant to buy Anelka and others because the manager is very much Roman Abramovich's man and at Chelsea, of course, money's no object. They have done really well with the players they have had available this season but I do wonder if Drogba would have had his operation if Jose Mourinho had still been there. Once the absentees return, and with the reinforcements they are likely to sign in this transfer window, Chelsea will finish the season strongly. Also, United, Arsenal and Liverpool have all still to visit Stamford Bridge this season.
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