Arsenal; Letting Cesc go

Some things in life just seem to be inevitable; like torrential rain when you’ve organised a summer barbecue.  Or James Corden.  The same rules apply to football, and nothing in football over the last two years has looked more inevitable than Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas moving to Barcelona.

 

From the second that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger whisked the raw but talented young Cesc away from Barca’s academy aged just 16, there has been a steely determination from the Catalans to right a wrong and bring their boy back.  A prodigal destined to return.  

Of course Cesc certainly hasn’t stood still during his time with Arsenal, far from it.  Providing an array of skills, a wide range of passing and having grown into an on field general with goals to boot, Fabregas is every inch the complete midfielder and one of the best players in world football today.  

The complete midfielder

Not being a first choice for his country has not been enough to deter Barcelona in their pursuit though, and the campaign to bring Fabregas back to the Camp Nou has raged since he left, reaching a crescendo this summer.  For his part, Fabregas has just uttered the ‘flattered to be linked with’ line up until recently, but things have notably stepped up a notch over the last few months.  Barcelona have made a bid, understood to be in the region of £29m for the Spanish international, which Arsenal have turned down flat, with Arsene Wenger this week maintaining the line that his captain is not for sale, at any price. 

However things will crank up again this week; possibly as early as tomorrow.  New Barcelona President Sandro Roselli takes up the reins of his club on the 1^st of July, succeeding Juan Laporta, and makes no secret of his intentions, or the Catalan clubs main priority;

"My idea is to work hard to make sure that Barca follows in the tradition of last few years and I have the experience as a director in negotiations and Fabregas is the priority.

"I am sure that we can close the operation [to sign] Cesc. The relations between the two clubs has been very positive and we must make sure this does not damage those relations.

"Until July 1 we can't do anything as Laporta and his team remain in charge, but if negotiations are advanced and the coaching staff want the player, we will continue with the negotiations, without doubt."

It seems increasingly likely that a second bid, somewhere in the £30-40m bracket will follow this week.  That may not be enough to tempt Arsenal into the inevitable just yet, but with a lot of Europe’s media suggesting that Barca coach Pep Guardiola may turn his attention to Werder Bremen playmaker Mesut Ozil, their hand may be forced.  Fabregas has maintained a dignified silence of late, concentrating on Spain’s’ world cup campaign, but he will be sitting down for talks with Arsenal soon and if a deal is not struck between the two clubs it does seem likely that Cesc will ask for a transfer.  

So how do Arsenal go on without their talismanic captain?  The Arsenal supporters I speak with agree that there is a degree of inevitability about all this, with opinion ranging between it being time to cash in, to it being the final straw with Wenger; Fabregas’ frustration at failing to collect trophies mirroring the feelings of many supporters. 

While a minority of Arsenal fans will call 606 and demand that Wenger goes, the majority still maintain support for their manager…..but many will carry a strong sense of frustration at Wenger’s stubbornness not to play certain players in certain positions, or a stubbornness not to just blow some of those tidy profits on that one player that would make the difference; ‘one player’ is the quote I hear from Arsenal fans the most often, the margins certainly look that fine when you see Arsenal play.

As an outsider looking in though, I tend to think that Arsenal are actually moving forward at a rapid pace, mainly because many of their rivals are going backward so quickly, in financial terms at least, but I accept that it might just not seem like it when you go along and watch games at the Emirates.  

Ok, there have been no trophies of late, and losing your (arguably) best player is a bitter pill to swallow, but the North London club have a healthy bank balance, an excellent coach, a second-to-none scouting network, a first class stadium and excellent training facilities.  There is also that prodigious production line that shows no sign of stopping - in fact it looks on the verge of producing its finest crop yet (and I heartily recommend you visit www.younggunsblog.co.uk, to see what I mean) - and a reputation for fine football that stretches right across the globe; a far cry from the Arsenal I grew up watching.

.....and there's more

There’s not much anyone else can do to realistically compete with the money that Manchester City or Chelsea are spending, but money does not guarantee success - as Real Madrid consistently prove - and will it last forever? we all thought it would at Blackburn in the 90’s.  

Liverpool, even with the excellent Roy Hodgson set to come in, are awash with debt, as are Manchester United, where Alex Ferguson will one day have to retire.  Near neighbours Spurs have joined the top 4, but can they really afford to keep paying those transfer fees and wages, and what about Harry eyeing England?

Cesc might be on his way South, but Arsenal are far from doing the same.