So after what seems like the longest summer transfer rumour in history – well since the speculation last summer at least – Cesc Fabregas has confirmed that he will be staying at Arsenal for now. Reading through the statement, it all but says Arsenal won the battle but as we all know deep down Barcelona will win the war.
“Firstly I would like to apologise to all the Arsenal fans for not speaking sooner about my future but I have not known what I was going to do until this moment.
“I cannot deny that joining a club like Barcelona was not an attractive move for me. This was the club where I learnt my football, it is my home town where my friends and family are and a club where I have always dreamed of playing. There are not many players in this world who would not want to play for Barcelona.
“I have had many conversations with Arsène Wenger both in person and over the phone over the last few months and although the content of those conversations will remain private, the conclusion is that Barcelona have had two formal offers rejected by Arsenal.
“I am a professional and I fully understand that it is Arsenal’s prerogative not to sell me.
“I owe a lot to the Club, manager and the fans and I will respect their decision and will now concentrate on the new season ahead with Arsenal.
“I can assure all the fans that now the negotiations have ended I will be 100 percent focused on playing for Arsenal.
“I am an Arsenal player and as soon as I step out on to the pitch, that is the only club I will be thinking about.
“I am looking forward to the start of the season and putting this speculation behind me.”
From that, I (and a lot more) take that Cesc was happy to entertain the thought of joining Barcelona and would have done so had we accepted their offers. However, Barcelona instigated all this, Fabregas didn’t put in a transfer request, Barcelona made an offer.
We all know he wants to move back to Barcelona but he also knows that 1) he has time on his side and 2) he owes Arsenal and Wenger an awful lot. Wenger and the club have stuck their heels in here and made it hard for Cesc to do anything else but stay, however I think he will be off next season regardless of whether we win the Premier League or finish outside the top 4.
Damn me for saying it if you like, but to me Cesc’s statement said: “I would liked to have gone to Barcelona, but the club refused so I’ll stick around and do my best for another year before they come back in for me again.” It’s hardly one of commitment and one you’d expect from your club captain.
I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Cesc will give 100% for Arsenal while he is here, be it just for one more season. While I would give everything to for him to have committed to seeing out his contract, I know he would have been lying. While the statement may have come from the club or “his people” I admire it for its honesty. He hasn’t insulted our intelligence by denying the rumours or claiming he never wanted to return to Barcelona. He hasn’t kicked up a fuss and acted like a baby because Arsenal turned down the offers, he has acted like a professional and I fully expect him to act like it on the pitch come kick-off.
Fabregas has been one of the top midfielders in world football for the last two seasons. While we may only get one more from him, lets enjoy it. Lets not only enjoy it, lets benefit from it. Get Wilshere and Ramsey to learn all they can from him.
One thing we must do is support Fabregas. While he wears our shirt and gives 100% he will have my support. (If like Adebayor he decides he doesn’t need to earn his wages that is a different story but I sincerely doubt that will happen).
This post may seem like I’m sitting on the fence, and to be honest I am to a degree. I’m delighted we have Cesc for another season but I think that’ll be it. I’m a bit peeved that he was set and is set to join Barcelona but on the other hand I don’t blame him because he is Barcelona born and bred.
Arsenal always come first, and in this case keeping Fabregas for another season is the best thing. At least for now WE HAVE CESC FABREGAS!
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good post irish.
i’m glad to have him for a year too and will support him if he gives his all.
an if he gives his all,,, then he’ll be worth 60-70m at the end of the season… are barca gonna come up with the readies….???
me thinks we are gonna be letting him go on the cheap next season. or is that me thinking too much chicago!!! 😉
Be interesting to see how Barcelonas finances are this time next year. Will they have the money to buy Cesc may well be a deciding factor. Another good season from Cesc and his price will rise again. And you never know we might win something and that might make him want to stick around longer.
we should all remember that at the moment cesc is worth 50mil, if he has a great season this coming season then that will increase his price tag and barca cannot even afford him for 50mil. if they do not have the money then he can’t live. we keep on saying we have cesc for at least one more season b4 he lives but we have to remember that if barca cannot afford him then he will remain an arsenal player for yrs to come.
Morning tommy,
Welcome Gooner64 & chika,
Some very sane comments after the hysteria yesterday. It’s true that a year is a long time in football and world finances.
Cesc could indeed go up in value, alternatively his importance to Arsenal could reduce if Nasri/Wilshere/Ramsey have a good season.
I have no doubt that it was right for the club to dig its heels in and I am so pleased that Barca have been shown up to be the bunch of slimey wingers they truly are. Their last statement was fit for the schoolyard.
agree but can cash strapped barcelona afford him?answer no…two below price offers from barcelona and the board rightly said no deal this year,however reading between the lines and cesc would have gone.When he goes Arsenal will want the full asking price no more no less,expect barcelona to be paying the fee over 25years…oh well thats business
I have to agree that this one will come down to money, pure and simple. If Barcelona had come up with £55 million earlier then I reckon Cesc would have moved. What Wenger would have done with it is another matter. I doubt whether this season will mean that his price drops unless something unforeseen happens. Part of their whole arrogant stance is to get him for a price that “they” see as fair, which means less than Arsenal’s valuation. The whole point might well be moot in a year anyway as, if Arsenal win nothing this year, I can see Wenger moving on. If, as now seems probable, he doesn’t buy a goalkeeper and those we have perform as we know they have done in the recent and painful past I can see the pressure on him growing to extraordinary levels quite quickly. Not to buy a goalkeeper will go down as one of the biggest cock-ups in the history of the club. How many people do you know that believe we don’t need a truly world-class ‘keeper. Most analysts reckon our ‘keepers cost us between 10 and 14 points last year.
“we should all remember that at the moment cesc is worth 50mil,” says chika.
How do you really evaluate what a player is worth,some will say whatever a club is willing to pay, others by comparison to other players,but that is a no brainer for me.
let’s see in a year’s time.mourinho doesn’t like coming second, and with the downturn in economy especially in Spain,unbelievably Real Madrid have more available free money, that is money that is actually on the table.
irish, when you wake up, a nice summary 🙂
Cesc has a no win situation.Every move he makes on the field will be scrutinised, and for a young man of 23, he has a lot to carry on his shoulders.
part of me is happy CHEQUE Fabregas is staying (for the sake of the club)…but we wasted the whole summer worrying will he-wont he & no progress on strengthening has taken place. we let go 9 players bring in two & we still have the same clowns in goal??
now theres talk of reina,hes gonna throw 25 mil at him
when he was stalling at 4 mil for the fulham keeper..
he wouldnt fork out 25 mil for a dm ..its just sickening
Morning kelsey,
That’s a very good point. Cesc had a couple of quite indifferent performences by his standards last season. As you say, his every move will be under scrutiny. I pray that fans don’t get on his back. I am sure that AW will keep him as captain and hopefully make TV vice captaiin.
Cesc is less creative when he has to concentrate too much on defending. Spain play his as their most advanced midfielder and that is probably where he should be for us but I can’t see how that will work with a fron 3 of AA, RvP and Chamakh.
Welcome adjf,
I can’t believe anyone is taking this Reina rumour seriously? LG have said that they’ve know about it for weeks. Much as I respect the writers on LG, I can’t see us paying £10m for GK let alone over £20m.
If we chose to spend £20m+, we could buy the 2 or 3 players needed to reinforce the squad.
Pool wouldn’t want to sell a GK of Reina’s quality if they are about to be bought by anyone who is going to pump money into the club.
i preferred not to raise the subject of reina on this website, leave it to the titttletattle sites to debate.
no quotes whatsoever in the sun, rubbish!
face it we are sticking with the flappy gang!
with the immense pressure thats gonna be on cesc this season the no win scenario will only deepen for him in that if he under performs he will be accused of trying to drive down his price!
top post..
barca tried, they failed..cesc wanted to go but hes happy to stay and concentrate on trophies for arsenal..
i must say though that if barca would have doubled their offer then i wouldnt have had a problem with the club selling him.. 60mil plus is a lot of money and we would be stupid to turn that down for a player who wants to leave
probelm is barca have admitted they didnt offer more than £33.3mil for him..are they having a laugh or what??? that offers an insult and i have images of arsenal wenger wiping his arse on the fax and sending it back….
i know people think Cesc will leave next season..thing is he’ll be worth more than 33.3mil then too and if the rumours that barca are in debt are true then they will struggle to find the funds for him..they’ll be lucky if they are not bankrupt.. cesc may be at arsenal longer than we think so we have to get behind him and not force him out..
Morning JonJon,
There are bloggers who know a lot more about the financial situation than me, but I do not believe that Barca will ever be allowed to go bankrupt – they are too much of an institution. They’ve paid £20m+ for Villa this summer when he only had a year left on his contract.
Yes he is been onest,if it was him he is a barca player,yet a year is not a long time and if barca think they will get him on the cheap,i hope they are well and truly mistaken,and now that we have a lot of midfield talent,START the player who is going to take his place.the time will come for the moaners to swallow their words and will be saying,FABREGAS WHO?
Rasp. Like you I don’t think Barcelona could go bankrupt but that shouldn’t disguise the poor state of their finances. They had to go to another bank to borrow the 150 million Euros to pay their players and they owe about half a billion plus they still owe more for players they have never paid for. These are the players who have helped them to be so successful. Why didn’t their existing bank extend them an even greater overdraft? There are a lot of politics at Barcelona. They are top heavy with them in fact and their immediate financial future doesn’t look too rosy with the economic crisis in Spain and the push by other clubs to get a fairer share of the TV rights pie. I don’t think their financial state is at all healthy as they have won everything and still lost over £50 million.
that was more of a tongue in cheek comment rasp..
hi 😉
barca will survive but i still dont think they are ready to offer what it would take to get cesc..they will never agree a transfer fee so the only way cesc will leave is if other variables take affect, such as forcing him out..he cant use the webster ruling until 2012..
we could keep him 2 more years and if we are winning trophies he might want to hang about.. 😉
we need to build a proper team now though..
Good morning all. Over three weeks to go and you are writing any transfers off, based on what? actual knowledge or assumptions and supposed experience.
Experience counts for nothing,because circumstances change and everyman has his price they say. If AW likes the price for his man buying or selling he will act, If he doesn’t he will go with what we have, safe in the knowledge that the board are aware that we need him in real terms far more than he needs the club.
If the unlikely event of Aw leaving it will be at his behest not the clubs remember the club are after a new contract it is Arsene who has put it on hold.
OOPs sorry Irish,Nice summation of the plot. We can only benefit from everyone involved including fans knowing that Wenger only sells in his time.
Morning JonJon,
Living over here I get a different perspective.I have mentioned before that Barcelona are asset rich but for the moment cash poor.Bancrupcy is highly unlikely.
However, they are there to be shot at at least domestically.They won everything in Spain, and as already mentioned hey shelled out a lot for David Villa, and my take on the whole situation is that all of this talk,note coming from barcelona, from president to various players, was nothing more than a feeler, and of course to unsettle Cesc, knowinh a) his true value and b) they don’t have ready money.
Arsenal have acted as I expected they would, and Cesc was only a bit part player in the W.C. and has no guarantee whatsoever of playing week in and week out at least for the moment.
Barca hung out the bait and we didn’t take it..
Thanks adam – I said there were bloggers who know a lot more about the finances than me 😉
Having said that, I believe if Barca had offered £50m we would have sold despite the fact that they still owe us money. Its crazy, I don’t know why anyone would do business with a club that doesn’t pay its bills.
Morning dandan,
Who’s writing transfers off? – or are you referring to the Reina story?
Those interested read back what i wrote about barca’s finances,it is very relevant.Morning everyone else.
Sorry rasp, Arsedejecfan 10.29 was doing the normal doomer thing.
kelsey, that was an excellent insight into Bara’s finances, here’s the link …..
https://arsenalarsenal.wordpress.com/2010/07/09/the-barcelona-inquisitiontake-a-tip-cesc-and-stay-with-the-ones-who-love-you/#comments
Cesc gives the impression of being bigger than Arsenal…..he is not ! He should be relieved of the captaincy which he has devalued. Let him go right now and rebuild the team. Let’s hope that this is not a Viera-type scenario at the start of every season; all of this is too destabilizing.
Morning all
Irish – well done, a balanced view of the deal that was on the table and Cesc’s part in it.
I really hope Cesc is not going to be the bad one here – Arsenal supporters have to be realistic IMO and know that he would have gone to Barca had they offered enough money but that he’ll pull on the Arsenal shirt and happily give 100% to us.
Another excellent post Irish!
I am not at all surprised by the Cesc outcome. If Barca had offered north of £50m, I suspect he would have gone, because Arsenal would have saved face by refusing the first offer made by Barca and would have been admired for being in control and not looked like weak patsies.
So why didn’t Barca make the offer? Well Barca wanted both Villa and Cesc and just did not have the money for both. Their reasoning may have gone something like this;
“We will buy Villa for £35m, which leaves a possible £30m for Cesc. Now Arsenal won’t want that, but if we carry out a media campaign, with Cesc’s implicit agreement, they will feel bullied into submission”.
I think Barca are amazed and frustrated it did not work. 🙂
Unlike any club in this country, both Barca and R Madrid are national institutions and will never be allowed to go under. Their massive TV rights deals and beneficial tax exemptions allow them to recharge their coffers every year.
They will be back again next year with an offer of £50m +, so it could be argued that Arsenal would have won, even if only financially.
gday all,
whats going on with this Pepe Reina horse manure, surely we can do miles better than him, im taking it with a grain of salt that the sun newspaper is. Almunia is better than Reina for sure!
Morning Kelsey,
I only scanned this morning’s comments before giving my view on the Cesc/Barca.
It seems you and I were saying much the same thing, using different words. Sorry. 🙂
Can I come and visit you in Spain to apologise more fully? 😉
great post irish
Rea arse,
No problem, but you have to have one of the following credentials.
Be absolutely loaded
A famous PL player
A drug runner
A drug dealer
A con man
On the run
or know Piers Morgan or Simon Cowell 😉
Shucks, I’m none of those things.
But, I’ve got a cousin who lives inland, just outside Barca, will that do? 🙂
AND, I don’t cost much to keep and am fully house trained!
In reflecting on Cesc’s statement yesterday, the most important thing for me was the honesty. The more I thought about it, though, I do wish it had a little more love for AFC. The commitment to AFC was certainly there. Just wish there was a little more love tossed our way. That’s probably splitting hairs.
Without thinking negatively for too long, should things go awry early this season, it’s easy to foresee the media and our supporters casting blame his way, should his performances not be seen up to par. We got what we wanted with him coming back for this season. Let’s really hope it never gets uglier than it has this offseason.
Chicago,
The statement was honest. He was saying that if Arsenal and Barca had agreed terms, he would not have been able to refuse.
He kept it factual and professional, and the only emotional part referred to his family, friends and Barca.
None of us can pretend to be surprised really.
At least he was honest and not like a hypocrite badge-kisser we’ve seen a couple of seasons ago.
I am more worried about the collective failure of the club in keeping best talent at the club. Players are getting frustrated at the lack of spending on the team. Its one week to go for the beginning of the season, and there’s still no sign of a GK or a Defender. Why would Fabregas want to stay here when he can go and win things with more ambitious clubs!
Great post Irish.
I’m happy too that the staement wasn’t insulting to our intelligence.
Many liken this to the Vieira summer saga’s, I don’t. This is a about a man having the chance to return home, a man who could multiply his salary by going to many other clubs, but we all know that he’d go to Barca for the same salary, even slightly less. Wholly different imho.
Afternoon all, but I’m not stopping.
Afternoon all,
I was going to add in as well how I felt Arsenal came out looking well in all this. No comments by Wenger saying “I’d not sell a virus to them lot” but I didn’t want to ramble on.
Just on the subject of money, I think they’ll find it next season if they want it, they always tend to. They found £50mil this season to buy Villa and the defender guy from Seville.
i think this is worth a read for all arsenal vans
http://arsenal-opinion.com/2010/08/05/who-are-the-most-disliked-fans/
To be honest fans that annoy me most are gloryhunters – be they Leeds, Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Madrid, Milan, Barcelona, Arsenal – I hate those that bale instead of taking the rough. Why follow anyone if you only care about winning, it doesn’t make sense.
Great that our skipper, best talent & a true WORLD player is staying with us for another year.
Sure he wants to be at barca & who can blame him, hes catalonian, He & his family support the club & he has many friends there from the spanish team. Also dont forget they are probably by quite a way the best footballing side in the world & SUCCESFUL so its a no brainer he would play for them.
We a a good club but havent won anything for a few years & it was patently obvious last season & shown on the pitch we were a very long long way behind & unable to compete with Barca, Chelski, Man U. Inter are also Euro Champs & a very big club & i think Real under that little portugese fella will kick on this season.
Now all those teams have spent BIG money & are now the major players in Euro football.
Top players like Cesc want to win & for the last few years we havent given him platform to really do that at out club. We are at the moment in my eyes in the next tier behind them, a top 10 Euro club.Now that considering our finaces, building a stadium & limited spending available for players is a massive achievement. WE were usually nowhere near a top 10 European club before wenger. However to get into the top 4 or 5 without mega spending is very difficult maybe impossible?
Back to Cesc & On to tranfer fees, I think he is worth 50m in todays market, however barc cant pay that, however who knows an agreement may have been done to let him go a bit cheaper in 12 months in return for another years service to us?
Irish,
Arsenal came out looking better than Barca, how could they not? But in truth the way that Cesc behaved earlier was not good and made Arsenal look as if we are a third rate club.
Wenger was resolute, but we have got to stop being nice to players using us as a stepping stone to “bigger clubs”. Sod that. 😦
Can’t disagree with any of that Blink.
There are sites where you would be metaphorically lynched for saying that though.
I don’t know why, really.
Blink – I’m not going to discount that we might have agreed to let Cesc go next season, although its not like us but I certainly don’t see Wenger leaving him go for any less than what he wants.
Red Arse – I think the Cesc situation is different considering he is Catalan. Hleb going there was a case of him thinking he was joining a bigger club, now there is talk of him going to the spuds 😆 He basically went sideways and then fell off the ladder.
Irish,
I wasn’t being specific.
It’s just that we have a history over the last few years of losing players like Overmars, Viera, Petit, Henry and others.
They all have various excuses/reasons, but none of them make us look to clever. Actually, I find the excuses insulting. But that’s just me, perhaps.
Players move on though – United were flying on and Heinze wasn’t happy there and wanted to go to Liverpool who weren’t in the habit of winning trophies – sometimes its not about “how big the club is” in my opinion anyway, no point in overthinking about why they do it.
Hello all, I agree that the situation with Cesc is different. Hleb was never a particularly effective player for us anyway so cant really be compared, others have gone when it suited us. Pure and simple it doesnt suit Arsenal fc to sell yet. It does come down to money and if the 50m had been offered he would more than likely have gone. But lets be positive, hes here for another season which gives Ramsay time to recover and maybe next year Barca will prove that they value our captain at his true worth.
Barum,
Spot on. 12 months ago we would not have forecast the improvement of Frimpong and JET.
Who knows what will develop in another 12 months.
I feel v positive about things.
It is undoubtedly true that Arsenal are bigger than any player. We should enjoy them, while they are with us.
Red Arse: The point is that we did not lose Overmars, Vieira, Petit and Henry they were all in the twilight of their careers which is the best time to sell. We also sold each of them for more than we paid and that’s after having them for their best years.
Contrary to what you state I think it makes us look exceptionally smart!
Peaches, Kelsey and Dandan:
Just wantd to pop by and say a big thanks to you guys for all the support and advice yo’ve given regarding my blog and how I could promote it.
Things are taking a trun for the better for my site, and it’s happened primarily because of your help. Sorry I’ve not been back sooner, but I’ve gotten quite busy.
Great post (and yesterday’s by ArseChicago) and I totally agree that it’s a little deflating knowing that we’ve accomplished nothing more than postponing the inevitable. Cesc will leave sooner rather than later, but his extra year could be invaluable with regard to the development of Ramsey and Wilshire.
Afternoon….
Another good un Irish, I think we will suffer all this barca stuff again in January, then again in the summer and so it will go on….
And we are 3-1 down, the future is bright then….. 😦
3-1 down at half time – Fabianski looks really poor.
Afternoon guys,
Rico – I don’t think we’ll go through this in January, it’ll be dead till next summer imo.
Looking for silver linings and all that, hopefully Flappy’s performance makes a move for a new GK more likely. Right now I would take ANY other prem GK.
My internet is very slow today so only get snatches of the game but I did see Fabianski fall over for the second goal 😕
Barca will creep off and lick their wounds unless real are giving them a spanking. Then they may try their luck with proper money.
At last a centre forward who can head a ball and go in where it hurts
he was pushed irish,but either way to concede 3 in 30 minutes is not good.frimpong is out of his depth and Kos is definitely not ready to be a first choice.
Chamakh brings a new dimension, but the same old defensive mistakes remain.
Hope you are right Irish, I couldn’t take another month of the sage 😉 But like most, I think as long as Barca have the money next summer, they will get their man….
second goal was just laughable really Irish… If ever there was evidence we need a keeper, it was then…
sage = saga …
Kelsey – It looked like he fell over Vermaelen’s leg. Either way it was terrible all round.
will be interesting to see how chesney does…
Watt starting for Leeds, its on BBC1
Lionel Eboue 😉
hello rico, didn’t see you creep in.
chesney done well, fab is shot, he needs to go out on loan at the very least.
Loinel Eboue again 😉
read the half time comments on the other channel. call themselves supporters eh.
Good for Gibbs to get one.
Eboue is a Legend ha ha
Hi kelsey, and there was me thinking you were ignoring me 😉 😉
I love Chamakh’s attitude, oh and i love his i/v with 442, ‘i was told not to move to a small club like Spurs’ 😆
have you noticed we are shooting from outside or the edge of the box this half, nevertheless vermaelen has been twice left as last line of defence,in fact the only defender when they break.as for theo, he just hasn’t improved.i have seen enough in these pre season games to justify that comment.
how are things rico ..?
4-4 😦
Leeds vs Derby is a cracker – watt is doing well
all is not bad thanks kelsey, how about with you ?
Nice goal JET
their keeper is as bad as ours….
Dodgy keeper…. and he’s not ours for a change
6-4. first set to Arsenal 😉
too long to go into rico, another time, another place.
😆 😆 kelsey re the first set, hope the too long comment doesn’t mean anything too horrid 😦
Look on the bright side of this result, even wenger, if he had any doubts, now knows we need a class keeper and a big tall strong lump bought in at the back……
Funny, most fans have known that for ages…. 😉
Oh dear
Is this game for real, or has it been agreed to entertain the fans…
our defence is so poor its almost laughable …
I think its more an R-rated movie
See you soon all, here’s to a busy week in the transfer market 🙂
ove r rated Irish… 😉
Ha ha Rico, Yes
One seriously can’t do a match report on this game just some observations considering 30 players took part.
Theo,Kos and lansbury are not ready.
We could do with another couple of vermaelen’s and the keeper who knows.
our defending really was poor, and yet we seem to have more options than ever in attack.
Kelsey I don’t think I would want to draw many conclusions from that. A number of players appeared to be feeling the effect of a hard preseason and the poles were really up for it in their new ground.
A weeks lighter training and some set piece work will make a big difference.
Kelsey,
I agree a match report is pointless.
An individual analysis might be relevant.
Theo was woeful. He needs to go out on loan.
Flappy was ….. flappy. His confidence has gone. Pity.
Clichy has regressed. Still we have Gibbs who was excellent.
TV and Kos, not bad individually, but don’t work together. Too lightweight.
Cham, Nas, TR, Jack were good IMO.
Hard Pre-season?
Were the boys having a hard preseason when we shipped 2 goals to Celtic as well?
Ofcoarse there are conclusions to be drawn.
The same conclusions that have been drawn for 3 seasons straight.
This team is clueless defending.
And we have digresses. Thanks to the Deluded Self Righteous Stubborn Arrogant Twat managing the Club
dandan,
whatever you say, we conceded 5 goals and regardless of who was playing it is a combination of bad keeping, bad defending as a unit and the midfield once again not tracking back.
of course we will have a stronger team next week,but whoever plays we always seem to make the same mistakes, especially when the opposition is counter attacking.
On the positive side,Chamakh will be a great signing, Nasri has been the best overall player pre season, Gibbs will soon be ahead of Clichy and Jack will fill in nicely.
Well I don’t do doom, certainly not before the season has even started, we shall see by the end of the month where we are, in the meantime I am going to read a book and leave you guys to it.
Gnite
And Ghost Face swings back into town.
Unfortunately, I didn’t see the game but the defense is worrying.
Still, we are going to see what Wenger has in mind next weekend.
Wow, GhostFace and London and I missed you both. I also missed the game but had great commentary from irish and am going to try and watch it in a while.
Maybe this is the blueprint for the new season – great entertainment, scary defnding but an agreement for us to outscore the opposition – only joking 😳
Very worrying as our defence was the area that Arsene said he was going to give his attention to and we’re definitely worse off than we were in May 😦
We may not be taking it so lightheartedly next sunday. This is not good preparation for the season.
Please don’t anyone tell me to be patient until the window closes. We’re playing pool next sunday. Even if we bought 3 world class players this week, they wouldn’t be integrated into the side in time.
If we bought a keeper with Premiership experience he could start against pool though couldn’t he?
Dream on peaches. It looks to me like the pecking order for our keepers is in reverse order – Almunia and Fabianski should be 3rd and 4th!
I thought the most important line from his statement was that 2″The Barcelona dream is over” now Cesc is a decent guy and that line will only get fans hopes up and he wouldnt do that.If the dream is dead then that means hes never leaving, were their negotiations between the clubs where Arsenal outlined how much they would accept and Barcelona calculated that they cant afford that in the next 5 years 60-80m up front plus the 16m already owed for the transfers of Henry and Hleb. Maybe im being too optimistic but at the least I see Fabregas staying for more than one year
For the record, it isn’t “arrogant” for us to place a price on a player that we think is fair, no more than it is “ambitious” for Arsenal to value Fabregas as they do.
The price that we offered, whatever it ultimately was, would have been probably the highest price ever for a squad player, which is what he would have been for us. And that’s no disrespect intended to the player or his talent. But we have Spain’s starting midfield. He couldn’t crack it then, he won’t be able to crack it at the Camp Nou.
Arsenal will value him as they should their most important player. The twain shall never meet, so I am sure he will be priced at a number we will be unwilling to pay next transfer season, as well.
Our finances are fine (unless you believe what you read in the English footy press), but we were never going to pay a silly (to us) valuation for Fabregas, even had Wenger been less interested in keeping a player who doesn’t want to stay. Hate us all you like, but the meaning of his statement is clear: “I would have loved to have gone to Barcelona, but the club didn’t want to sell me, so I’m here.”
Most level-headed Barca fans (the only ones who really want Fabregas now are the intense Catalan nationalists, carrying over with the election nonsense that generated all this in the first place) love that he is staying, as it gives players such as Jonathan Dos Santos and Thiago Alcantara more time to develop, and possibly save you all the bother of dealing with this business next summer, and saving us 45-50m.
Kxevin, aren’t you ignoring the fact that Fabregas improved Spain every time he came on for them in the WC. I am delighted he has not gone to Barca, but if he had he would soon have been a first team regular.
Given the prices paid for other players this year and last, most unbiased observers have concluded that Cesc’s valuation should be at least £50m.
Morning all
I’ve had a lot of trouble getting into wordpress so the new post will be a while. Back soon
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