Despite Arsene Wenger being famously known in the past eight years for his shrewd spending and tight dictatorship over the clubs wage bill, many fans have grown frustrated over these years with his inability to change, and his naivety to adopt new philosophies.
However it could be argued that Wenger has indeed changed, more than what initially meets the eye.
Rewind time by a lengthy 14 years to when Arsenal, under Wenger's stewardship, signed a relatively unknown player excelling in the French Ligue 1 named Sylvain Wiltord, who much like one Diafra Sakho, was scoring goals for fun in France.
Arsenal at the time were in a transitional stage which would see Arsene Wenger sign what would be another club legend, in Robert Pires, a fellow compatriot to Sylvain.
It was also a year that The Gunners would lose stand-out consistent duo, Marc Overmars to Barcelona in a £25,000,000 deal and midfield stalwart Emmanuel Petit to the same side for a lesser £7,000,000.
The club needed extra fire power and immediate replacements, which cued a then-transfer record fee of £13,000,000 being spent on Wiltord. A fee which would not be broken for eight years until Arsene Wenger signed Andrei Arshavin in 2009 for £15,000,000.
It would be a double coup which would prove instrumental in the way Wenger built his new philosophies at the club. Pires was a direct replacement for Overmars and Wiltord added to an already strong attack, linking up with Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp in an Arsenal front line which propelled them to winning "The Double" in the 2001-02 campaign.
Wiltord would go on to become one of Arsenal Football Clubs all time greats, as well as contributing 49 goals during his time at the club, he was also a part of the famous "Invincibles" in 2003-04.
So how does all of this link to the present day, and in particular West Ham's Diafra Sakho?
The fact he signed from a French Ligue 1 side has very little relevance to the theory, however the contrasting fact that an Arsene Wenger of old would have known about him, and indeed signed him before a Premier League side had even heard of his name, still remains.
Sakho has demonstrated already that he can acclimatize to the English style of football, and has adapted his game accordingly at West Ham United. Sam Allardyce's Irons have started playing an attractive style of football which could rival the Gunners early season form, which sees The Hammers sitting in fourth position, four points clear of Wenger's men.
Sakho, who much like Sylvain Wiltord, possesses great pace, which makes him a defenders nightmare. Matching that pace with sheer strength makes the Senegal international a major threat for any club going forward, something what Arsenal have arguably lacked since the departure of Robin Van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor to Manchester United and Manchester City respectively.
For the past few seasons Arsene Wenger has shied away from the French market, and has replaced it with German players instead. Perhaps in doing so, and not sticking to his earlier transfer philosophies, he has missed out on players like Sakho, Cabaye and now transfer target Moussa Sissoko who have all marveled since joining the Premier League.
But as Arsenal fans campaign for big name signings like Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil who have made their way to The Emirates in recent seasons, for a combined £77,000,000, could it mean Arsenal will miss out on talented prospects across Europe?
Wenger's new transfer philosophy does run a heavy risk of missing out on hidden, cheaper gems like £3,500,000 man Diafra Sakho or the slightly pricier £12,000,000 Enner Valencia, both who have been signed by The Hammers. In comparison to what Arsenal spent on Danny Welbeck, who has without question been a justified signing, The Gunners could have signed both West Ham's front men for the equivalent Arsene Wenger spent on Welbeck.
In the last 5 years, Arsene Wenger has signed just 7 players directly from the French Divisions, with Olivier Giroud being arguably the only success to come from those signings, since then the likes of Gervinho, Squillaci, Park Chu Young to name just a few struggled to find the form the likes of Sylvain Wiltord and Robert Pires replicated over a decade ago.
Perhaps in the contrary, Wenger was wise to shy away from the French Divisions, despite a few hidden gems, including Sakho still remaining there.
It is clear that fans of the North-London side long for a striker who will replicate the golden generation that the likes of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Sylvain Wiltord brought to the club.
There will always be a question whether Diafra Sakho can replicate the kind of form he has shown in the early stages of his West Ham United career, which has seen him score 7 goals in 9 appearances, but the over-ruling question for some Arsenal fans will be, what if we had signed him, with the club some 13 points behind leaders Chelsea, the Senegalese strikers early goals in this years campaign certainly would have helped Wengers side.
It could also be argued that Arsenal did not need to sign him in the first place, with Danny Welbeck joining in August and the likes of Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud, Yaya Sanogo, Joel Campbell and Theo Walcott who can all play upfront.
It is always an easy task to look at scenarios in hind-sight, and perhaps Arsene Wenger will prove why Arsenal didn't show any interest in the Senegalese star, but if the Gunners do wish to sign him after what potentially looks to be a strong goalscoring season for the young striker, the reality is Wenger would need to spend at least triple the £3,500,000 Sam Allardyce spent bringing him to London.