Barcelona: Arsenal ‘unwilling to discuss Cesc Fabregas deal’
Toni Freixa, the spokesman for Barcelona’s board, says Arsenal are unwilling to discuss any deal with the Catalan club over the sale of Cesc Fabregas.
The Gunners captain began his career with the La Liga champions before joining the London club in 2003 at the age of 16. His long-mooted switch back to the Camp Nou has been one of this summer’s most drawn out transfer sagas, with Barca relentless in their pursuit of the player’s signature.
Barcelona have made no secret of their hopes of signing the midfielder, having repeatedly and publicly stated their hopes that their former youth player will return. In June, the Catalan club put forward a bid of 35 million euros for the 23 year-old player, but this was rejected out of hand by Arsenal.
Despite numerous attempts to kickstart negotiations, Freixa told reporters Arsenal are continuing to rebuff the Spanish side. He said: "Arsenal don't want to sit down and negotiate with us. It's not a problem with the wishes of Cesc or of Barca - they simply don't want to negotiate."
Barcelona midfielder Xavi had said a deal for Fabregas was “inevitable” as the player has stated his wish to return to the Catalan club. Xavi added that: “It won't be more than a year before he is back home.” Argentina superstar Lionel Messi has also urged Fabregas to return. The reigning World Player of the Year said: “If he joins Barcelona then it would be great for me. We used to play together in the youth teams and he knows everything about Barcelona. He won’t have any problems adjusting to our playing style.”
Financial woe
Barca’s pursuit of the player may be at risk after the true extent of their financial debt was revealed. The club’s vice-president for economic affairs Javier Faus has revealed that the Catalan side lost more than 77 million euros last season as they claimed a second league championship in-a-row. This means their total debt is now an estimated 442 million euros net.
The previous board, headed up by Joan Laporta, had announced in June that the club was 11 million euros in profit. However, a fresh audit carried out for new president Sandro Rosell’s set-up paints a far bleaker picture. The study of Barca’s finances revealed that total income for the 2009-10 season was 409.7 million euros, but costs amounted to 478.9 million euros. Additional spending of around 8 million euros brings the deficit to the 77 million Euro total.
Faus told reporters: “The figures presented by the former board don't reflect the real image. They have cheated. There is a structural problem. The sporting excellence in the last few years has not been reflected in economic excellence. The new board's goal is to bring economic excellence alongside sporting excellence.”
Barcelona shelled out 69 million euros for the transfer of Zlatan Ibrahimovic last summer, which contributed massively towards the season’s deficit. This summer, they have splashed out 40 million euros to sign Spain striker David Villa from Valencia and have indicated they are willing to spend as much or more to secure Fabregas’ services. They also had to take out a loan of around 149 million euros in June after falling behind with the payment of players’ wages and were forced to sell centre-back Dymtro Chygrynskiy to Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk to hastily raise some much-needed cash.
Meanwhile, despite Barca’s outstanding midfield roster, they are currently without any cover for defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets, following the sale of Yaya Toure to Manchester City. According to Freixa, the club is on the hunt for a replacement for the Ivory Coast international. They are said to be interested in 34 year-old Villareal veteran Marcos Senna. Instead of signing a younger, more expensive player, the Euro 2008 winner would be available on a cut-price deal of around two million euros, which would make more funds available to pursue a deal for Fabregas.
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