Fábregas has the spirit to exorcise the ghost of Gallas

Cesc Fábregas offers Arsène Wenger the chance to heal a divided camp

If he is not named the club's new captain, then Arsène Wenger may well compound one great error of judgement over his club captain with another. He is the only sensible choice if the team are to forge a new identity and spirit. Frankly, he has behaved like a captain-elect for most of Gallas's fraught term. He might be fatigued. He might be young - at 21 years and seven months he is only just older than Tony Adams was when he became Arsenal's youngest ever captain. No matter. He is bright, reasonable, talkative, inspiring and quite prepared to fight whatever battle is necessary on behalf of his team.

Arsenal clearly need new direction on the pitch, and although there are some willing performers whose hearts are in the right place, such as Gaël Clichy or Kolo Touré, and although Manuel Almunia was yesterday given the position in terms of seniority, none of them has anything like Fabregas's force of personality, or the same level of international respect and status.

Back in August, Fábregas spoke enthusiastically about taking the armband at Arsenal one day. 'I would love it,' he said. 'I respect all decisions. I am a player that accepts nearly everything. I am happy with everything, my number 4, playing for Arsenal in centre midfield and giving 100 per cent every, every game. But if the boss thinks in one or two years I am ready to be captain, I will take the armband.'

After Arsenal's best performance of the season, in beating Manchester United two weeks ago, Wenger dismissed the need for a captain in the old-fashioned sense. He argued that the game was so quick now you need 'shared leadership' amounting to at least six captains. Chance would be a fine thing. At this stage, he needs to concentrate on finding at least one who fits the bill.

Obviously, Fábregas could not be made captain at Eastlands as he was serving a one-match ban, but it is crucial to see who Wenger picks for Tuesday night's Champions League game against Dynamo Kiev. And the match Arsenal face immediately after that? Chelsea away. Gallas will not be sorry to give that one a miss.

In a way, his eruption has got Wenger out of a hole. It is never easy to drop a captain, yet there has been occasion recently when Gallas's performances were poor enough to warrant his omission.

So what next for the stricken defender? Wenger has been in a similar position before, with Sol Campbell, who, in effect, went on gardening leave to choose another place of employment. As Lee Dixon pointed out last night after watching his old team chronically exposed at the back, Gallas is still a competent defender and it is very much up to the player whether he has the will to return to the line-up, sans armband. Don't bank on it.

Strangely, there is a thread of defensive lynchpins who have gone into a kind of meltdown under Wenger. The manager had barely arrived at the club when Adams confronted his alcoholism. Then there was Campbell, who had a breakdown that led to his leaving the stadium and going awol halfway through a match against West Ham in 2006. Now Gallas, who - whatever your opinion of his efforts on the field as a defender or a leader - is the subject of a character assassination that looks set to drive him away from English football.

Gallas is being vilified, but there is someone else equally responsible for the disarray he caused at Arsenal. This was an accident waiting to happen from the moment Wenger selected him as captain in the summer of 2007. Gallas's personality was never suited to the job. He is intense. Sensitive. Serious. Speaking frankly is his default position.

Gallas does not have an arm-round-the-shoulder mode. And apart from anything else, he has one of the quietest, raspiest, most uncommunicative voices I have ever heard in football.

This was among the worst decisions Wenger has made in his 12 years managing Arsenal. It may even prove to be the kind of catalytic moment that brings everybody together. If the camp was as unhappy as Gallas says it was, Fábregas's anointment will be a timely blessing.