Young Gunners present and correct
Wenger may have lost experienced campaigners in Martin Keown, Ray Parlour and Sylvain Wiltord during the summer - but they were not missed as Arsenal began the defence of their Premiership title with a crushing 4-1 defeat of Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.
Sol Campbell and captain Patrick Vieira were also missing through injury, yet such is the confidence Wenger has in his emerging stars he handed a league debut to 17-year-old Cesc Fabregas.
The young Spaniard, recruited from Barcelona last season, stepped into the shoes of the incomparable Vieira but was not overawed as he filled them more than adequately.
When you add into the equation another Spanish sensation in Jose Reyes, who made the first and scored the second, and the likes of rising Dutch star Robin van Persie - a £3 million summer signing from Feyenoord who did not even make the bench - then the future is more than rosy for the Gunners.
Gael Clichy - who last season became the youngest winner of a championship medal at the age of 18 years and 10 months - Jermaine Pennant, Justin Hoyt and Ryan Smith also make up Arsenal’s younger generation, much to Wenger’s admiration.
But it was Fabregas who caught the eye against Everton.
“You had the best demonstration that age is not so important because you had a 35-year-old (in stand-in captain Dennis Bergkamp) and a 17-year-old who were outstanding,” said Wenger.
“It shows that the most important thing is intelligence and technique, and these two players have it. You obviously need everything to play in the Premiership, but you can see there is a big talent this early (Fabregas) that is ready to play. He is only young, still a kid, but maybe such a young generation is ready because they are better prepared physically.
“We still have to protect him a little bit - not mentally because he is a very humble guy, but physically, he is still boyish. Even so when it becomes physical he is not scared.
“We are in a position where I wanted to open the door to players who have a big talent because if you don’t do that then they don’t get a chance,” insisted Wenger.
“Fabregas and Clichy are ready to be regular players now, and that is very positive because they push the other players to fight and be up for it. We have other players like Justin Hoyt who, if he comes in at right-back, will be good - while he can also play at centre-back.
“We have Ryan Smith, Jermaine Pennant and Robin van Persie, who is a top-class player and who didn’t play yesterday. He is top, top class and only 21. “So we hope the squad will keep developing over the years, but it’s in the early stages.”
Vieira is scheduled to return to training with the first-team squad on Thursday, but Wenger will not rush his captain back after a thigh injury.
He is unlikely to return to the starting line-up until the game at newly-promoted Norwich on August 28.
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