Arsenal Action

[goonerjon]

Let the panic subside...if Cesc goes he goes because he wants to play for Barcelona more than he wants to play for Arsenal. We will get over it,he is not bigger than the club....this provides the opportunity for Jack W and Aaron R (both of whom are older than Cesc was when he broke into the first team) to show what they are made of....
He's one player, he goes, Brady went so did George and just looked where they work now.. back at the best club in the country. Let the whingers who can't remember back beyond the Wenger years and the panickers calm down...we are the longest surviving vlub in the top flight...last season was better than the season before. And to those who want rid of Arsene
who couldreplace him? And don't say Mounrinho , if that happened my season ticket is on its way back...

[Reddaz]

Nice post goonerjon. I agree with you that he isn't bigger then the club so if he wants to go then so be it. I will be disappointed of course but imo if cesc has no reason to stay at Arsenal, the club that made him the player he is today and fight for the Arsenal cause then I don't want him in the team anyway. One of the reasons I loved cesc was because of the constant respect and love he showed us but if his love and passion has gone then see ya. We had the same stuff said about henry when he left and the season after we were a better team imo, leading the league for most of the season.

Also a lot of this is OTT especially when it isn't even confirmed yet and is just talk.

[7Brady]

The potential stumbling block surrounding the return of Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona could involve the transfer fee, with Arsenal not prepared to accept less than £50m.
http://www.footylatest.com/fabregas-set ... reed/14260

[Craigie]

You know what if he goes I don't mind. He came for basically nothing, he'll leave for loads, he's stayed a long time, he usually performed, he was loyal enough for long enough, he captained the side, he gave it his all and he was always respectful with the media and the fans. Everything about Cesc Fabregas was a gain for Arsenal FC.

He's not too good for us, but he's good enough to make his own choices and if his choice is to go then good luck to him. Apart from Clichy he's probably our longest serving player currently and he will always be a legend here. I think six seasons is enough for any player at any club. Even if we'd won 3 leagues and the Champion's League with him he would still not have stayed with us for 15 years. I think it's wrong to say we made him because Barcelona would've made him just as well.

[Curt.B]

I think this whole thing is absolute bullshit any way.

^ So perfect , even the hafling comment : D

[Roger Milla]

Barcelona appear to have backed down in their pursuit of Cesc Fabregas by claiming that despite the player expressing a desire to one day return to the Nou Camp, that it was his club Arsenal who are in control of the situation.

Speaking about the speculation surrounding Barcelona’s pursuit of the Arsenal captain, sporting director Txiki Begiristain revealed that he hoped to see Fabregas playing for the Blaugrana as soon as possible but admitted that the Gunners considered the midfielder an integral part of their side.

"It's great news that he wants to come here and I think that one day Cesc will have to come to Barca," stated Begiristain

"But what matters is Arsenal and what their decision is.

"They think he is a very important player for them. We have to respect that.

"At times the wishes of players do not come true because they are under contract.

"That he says that he wants to come to Barca is a synonym that things are being done well here.

"I don't know when but I have the impression that he is a Barca (style) player and that he will enjoy it very much.

"I wish it was as soon as possible. But we have to respect Arsenal's wishes and the contract he has."

Arsenal revealed this morning that they had yet to receive a formal approach from their Spanish rivals with chairman Peter Hill-Wood telling the Daily Star that “We are not remotely interested in selling him.”

Reports yesterday claimed that Fabregas had returned to England, despite his duties with Spain, to talk to manager Arsene Wenger about his future at the Emirates. The 23-year-old is contracted to Arsenal for another four years although it is expected that the player will return to childhood club Barcelona before that time.

http://www.sport.co.uk/news/Football/38 ... laims.aspx

[Sp1r0r]

The rumours are going into overdrive. Fabregas may just leave, you never know. I think the best deal is this : 50million pounds plus Yaya Toure.

Reinvest that money as follows :

18million for Arteta (who is seriously underrated and scores wicked freekicks)
20 million on 2 centrebacks
12 million on a worldclass keeper, like Joe Hart

We solve our goalkeeping issue, our defensive frailties, replace Fabregas and get Toure along with it.

If Fabregas wants to go, there is nothing the club can do to stop him. As much as it will hurt Wenger and Arsenal for him to leave, the captain has always gave his best and remained loyal to Arsenal all these years. But you have to be honest and know that Arsenal was never Fabregas' number 1 club, Barca is.

The only reason Fabregas loves Arsenal so much is because they gave them his chance, just like Messi got his chance with Barca. But to play for a club you supported as a kid and under the manager who was your lifelong idol, is definitely a dream any player would want to fulfill.

You just hope Wenger does not leave too.

[damir]

it's not the problem if he leaves,it's not the problem what he says and does he loves Barca or not,the problem is bigger than that,we can't keep our best players,we can't keep them together and we can't build a team which can play several seasons together,there is a reason for that but I am tired of writing about it

[Curt.B]

Interesting article, worth the read:

Can Arse `Do A Juve` Without Cesc?


In the summer of 2001, Juventus were reflecting on a third straight season without a trophy and another failed Champions League campaign that had faltered at the group stage. So what did they do when Real Madrid came calling with a massive wedge of cash for their star player Zinedine Zidane? Did they cling on to appease the fans? Did they desperately try to keep a footballer whose talents deserved a bigger stage and a mantelpiece full of medals?

No, they sold him. And used the money to buy Gianluigi Buffon, Pavel Nedved and Lilian Thuram. They took a team built around the talents of one man, sold that one man, and bought the spine of a team. Rather than falling apart without their talisman, they won the next two Serie A titles - with a Champions League final appearance thrown in for good measure. In short, it all worked out rather well.

Arsenal fans should take note of that tale before being swayed by all the 'Arsenal In Crisis' headlines in the media, who would have you believe that selling Fabregas will bring about something inches short of Armageddon in north London. How will Arsenal win silverware without Cesc? Well, you might not have noticed but they weren't winning silverware with Cesc, so maybe the alternative is worth a crack.

Fabregas is a wonderful player. He will be missed. To pretend otherwise is to indulge in the nonsense kind of revisionism we see rolled out by rejected fans summer upon summer. But even leaving aside the fact that Fabregas clearly wants to re-join Barcelona, the Juventus example proves that selling your best player does not always equate to a death knell. As one Gunner pointed out in Wednesday morning's mailbox, there's 'no point having a flashy engine in a car with no wheels'. Selling that engine would buy an awful lot of wheels.

The question mark in this plan lies against the name of Arsene Wenger. If Barcelona pay something in the region of £40m, will the Frenchman spend that money on new players? I've long had a theory that Wenger believes that spending money to win silverware is cheating - but would he make an exception with money he has generated for the club himself by taking a 16-year-old Spanish kid and making him one of the best players in the world?

That £40m would buy an experienced goalkeeper, a centre-half, a replacement for Fabregas (clearly not in the same class but with better players around him, this would no longer be a one-man team) and a holding midfielder. With Marouane Chamakh already on his way to provide a much-needed goal threat, that suddenly looks like a more complete Arsenal squad.

Manchester United would have won the title last season if they had spent even half the money from Ronaldo's exit on new players. Instead, they went backwards. Like Juventus in 2001, maybe Arsenal need to take one smallish Spanish-shaped step backwards to take a giant leap forwards.


Sarah Winterburn

football365.com

[ArsenalZeBest]

Long time since i have posted....i think if Fab wants to leave, let him. You quite honestly don't want an unhappy player to be honest the morale will get effected cuz he is the Capitan.