Instead of enjoying the simple pleasures of summer this year -- sweet corn, lemonade, Snooki in a bikini -- the past couple of weeks have become a death vigil for my beloved Arsenal, as buzzards named Chelsea, Man City, United and Barcelona circle the Gunners' carcass.

It seems like every day, one player after another threatens to escape the Emirates gloom for a more cash-happy, trophy-friendly environment. As of Tuesday, Arsenal shipped Gael Clichy to Man City, and was reported to be selling off Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner (please, God, let this be true) -- essentially everybody but the guy who slings meat pies in the North Bank. In fact, when I heard those consistent booming sounds over New York's East River, I wasn't sure if was the Macy's fireworks display or Arsenal imploding.

[+] Enlarge Shaun Botterill/Getty Images Losing both Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri would gut the Gunners' midfield.

I probably should have seen this conflagration looming long ago, as such a diaspora of talent doesn't happen overnight. But I had been blinded by drinking from the Arsene Wenger Well of Youthful Optimism. The kids will grow up, I told myself. The refs let Stoke manhandle us, I rationalized. Denilson, Tomas Rosicky, Manuel Almunia and Sasquatch are the answer, I fantasized. I let myself get taken in by a script every bit as imaginative as "Transformers 3": Contend until February, collapse from March until May. Then point to a young but talented squad that just needs a bit more experience before it brings Europe to its knees.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Now, however, the writing is on the wall and in the papers and in the dressing room of every top club in Europe. Well before the team even reported for preseason training yesterday, Gooners had to steel themselves for what could be the end of Arsenal as we know it.

Just how exactly does a team go from quadruple contenders in mid-February to the world's most glamorous feeder club five months later?

In other words, when did Arsenal become Spurs?

I put this question to the former Arsenal hard man Patrick Vieira, who, in 2005, left for the more lucrative and tranquil climes of Juventus. Vieira was in New York recently to participate in Steve Nash's "Showdown in Chinatown" charity match, and I wandered over to him as he was relaxing on a bench before kickoff.

"Arsenal could have really used you this season," I said, shaking the hand of the Invincibles' combative midfield general. "We had no leader on the field." Vieira smiled, said thank you, but disagreed with my assessment.

"What about Cesc?" he asked.

Well, what about Cesc?

I've come to think of Fabregas as a gorgeous but crazy girlfriend. On one hand, she's bright and beautiful, and having her on your arm makes you the envy of all who pass. On the other, she's still carrying a torch for her ex, won't stop talking about him, and you recently saw a photo on Facebook of her wearing his shirt. Arsenal fans are now into the second summer of Fabregas' discontent, and nothing that Wenger could do was going to make him happy. It's not enough that the Frenchman had protected and prodded Cesc into being the world-class player that he is today, or that he made him captain at a mere 21 years old. The siren song of Barcelona had grown too loud, and I, for one, am ready to say "hasta nunca." O Captain! My captain! Good riddance.

I suppose Fabregas' departure has been grimly inevitable, not to mention mind-numbingly tedious. Like most who fly the coop from La Masia, the legendary Catalan talent incubator, there was always a sense that he would head back to Camp Nou sooner, not later. Having established himself as a dominant player outside of Spain, there would come a point when he'd put his well-honed skills to use for the mother club. Kind of like Bruce Wayne learning martial arts in the Himalayas, only to take it back to the streets of Gotham City.

Certainly, Arsenal fans knew that it was only a matter of time -- or money -- when Fabregas celebrated Spain's World Cup victory last July by posing in a Barca shirt that was mischievously wrestled onto him by Blaugrana defenders Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol as a "joke."

Barca knows it has the upper hand in these negotiations, which is why it has lowered its original offer of $60 million last year to $50 million, due to the "wear and tear" Fabregas experienced last season, when he missed most of December and nearly all of March because of various injuries. Still, even if Cesc is more fragile than he was in 2010, shouldn't he be worth at least twice as much as Jordan Henderson, for whom Liverpool paid $25 million? Fabregas is a much better player and he doesn't sport a mullet.

Such is the irresistible allure of the Catalan giants -- you don't ever really own a Barcelona player; you rent them. Having been smuggled out of La Masia in 20003 (to hear Barca suits tell it, Fabregas was kidnapped in the dark of night, rolled up in a carpet and dumped in the trunk of Wenger's car) at 16, Cesc obviously prefers to be a high-priced cog in the Camp Nou juggernaut than The Man at the Emirates.

This whole water torture of will-he-or-won't-he would be less painful if he had simply announced his intentions, LeBron-like, in a "I've decided to take my talents to Catalonia" ESPN special this summer rather than letting his disillusionment with Arsenal become a festering, yearlong distraction.

But it's not Fabregas' exit that has me unable to sleep at night without drugs. As brilliant a playmaker as the Spaniard is, Arsenal could cope with his loss as long as Nasri assumed his role as the creative fulcrum of the attack. With Alex Song and Jack Wilshere winning possession and harassing opponents alongside the silky Frenchman, the Gunners would boast a midfield triumvirate equal to any in the EPL.

But after being Arsenal's best player for six months (unfortunately the season lasts nine), Nasri got it into his head that he was woefully underpaid at roughly $144,000 a week, even though he publically maintained that his frustration had more to do with the Gunners' trophy famine. Is Nasri determined to leave as well, or he is merely holding Arsenal hostage with the threat that he becomes a free agent when his contract expires at the end of the upcoming season? As with Wayne Rooney and United a year ago, the game of transfer chicken began with the unthinkable -- Wazza in a Man City shirt -- and culminated with Sir Alex kowtowing to his star's demands and agreeing to a newly improved salary that could put all 37 of Angelina Jolie's kids through college.

[+] Enlarge Mike Hewitt/Getty Images Gael Clichy left Arsenal to sign with Manchester City.

For Nasri, the future is less clear-cut, given his youth (he's 24) and ambitions (he was quoted, somewhat delusionally, as saying that you can't be in line for the Ballon d'Or unless you play for a club that wins titles). But he doesn't have the kind of obvious exit strategy that Fabregas has had in his pocket for years. Not that it's prevented either of the Manchester clubs from sniffing around for a potential steal at 20 million pounds. And I'm sure it's only a coincidence that Clichy -- his countryman who shares the same agent and hasn't completed a decent cross in six years -- has already signed with the Eastlands ATM.

At least Clichy's exit was both speedy and telling. The left-back is on the downside of his career, and you can make the case that a healthy Kieran Gibbs would be an improvement. But to have one of the two last remaining members of the undefeated 2003-04 side -- a man who was quiet, confident and never complained to the media about his team's shortcomings -- leave without much fanfare when the Man City moneybags came calling tells you all you need to know about the mindset of veteran Arsenal players: If you want to win, get out. If you want to get booed during the lap of honor, stick around.

After Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy leave -- and reports have them all departing in the next week before Arsenal embarks on its Asian tour -- what impact will this have on Professor Wenger? Forever convinced he's the smartest man in the room, he is almost pathologically opposed to getting into a who's-got-the-bigger-checkbook dance with the Big Three. In a summer in which Sir Alex has already addressed his two major concerns, goalkeeping and depth, by corralling the highly regarded Spanish keeper David De Gea, along with the impressive homegrown duo of Phil Jones and Ashley Young, why do I feel that Arsene will likely use only the interest payments from his new war chest to buy an 11-year-old Belgian striker, a couple of cut-rate French wingers and John O'Shea?

A pair of scary central defenders like Gary Cahill and Christopher Samba might be great pickups for Everton, or Bolton, but with the continental transfer window now officially open and plenty of English clubs in a buy-now-ask-questions-later mood, I am becoming increasingly alarmed at the dearth of Arsenal-worthy signings. Why, one wonders, hasn't Wenger moved with more alacrity in the market when Nasri and others are waiting to see a sign of Arsenal's commitment to strengthening the squad in the wake of Fabregas' defection?

Though the Ivorian forward Gervinho, who scored 15 goals for Lille in Ligue One this past season, is clearly an upgrade on Marouane Chamakh and Bendtner, I don't see him setting the Emirates alight. Wenger could still bring in a couple of difference-makers, but they will not come cheap, and he seems constitutionally incapable of paying for (A) anyone over 24 and (B) anyone who costs more than a croque-monsieur.

Arsenal is rapidly feeling like a finishing school for young talent -- enjoy your college years before you go out into the real world. Have a summer fling with the Gunners; just don't take them home to meet your parents. At least Cesc is lucky in knowing that there's a club that still wants him and, more importantly, is willing to pay the ransom to win him back. Andrei Arshavin and Rosicky can only dream about such a circumstance.

Though I have to blame Wenger for the self-perpetuating culture of "It's Not Our Fault, Blame Everyone Else" that permeates the Gunners with every defeat or disappointment, I also accept that there's no better steward for the club. While it's never good to begin a transfer period seeing your best players parading their wares in the shop window, there's still plenty of time to build a better, tougher Arsenal, one that will be able to preserve 4-0 and 3-1 leads against Newcastle and Spurs.

But if Arsenal doesn't get it done in the new season, the players won't be the only ones clamoring for a change. I wonder whether Wenger understands that vultures will eat anything that is dying.

David Hirshey has been covering soccer for more than 30 years and has written about the sport for The New York Times, Time, ESPN The Magazine and Deadspin. He is the co-author of "The ESPN World Cup Companion" and played himself (almost convincingly) in the acclaimed soccer documentary "Once in a Lifetime."