Cesc Fabrégas seen in Barcelona shirt
Cesc Fabrégas has made no secret of his desire to leave Arsenal this summer and join his boyhood club Barcelona.
Arsenal have not been impressed with the way Barcelona are trying to court their captain, and Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger will be further unimpressed with the stunt Barcelona players pulled on Fabrégas last night.
As Spain touched down in Madrid fresh from their World Cup triumph over the Netherlands, they were treated to a party in front of 200,000 devoted Spanish fans. Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina said: “The future of Barcelona,” and then Carles Puyol and Gerard Piqué forced onto Fabrégas the Barcelona shirt, leaving the 23-year-old embarrassed.
New Barcelona president Sandra Rossell headed to South Africa to hold talks with Wenger but has failed to track him down. However, according to reports, the Frenchman is believed to have had a brief face-to-face meeting with Rossell, where he vented his anger over the whole saga.
Several Barcelona players have come out to the press in the past few weeks speaking about Fabrégas wanting to leave. Piqué said Fabrégas is already thinking about wearing the shirt, while playmaker Xavi said the Arsenal star has Barcelona blood in him.
The Catalan giants have already had a bid of around £29million rejected, with Arsenal insisting Fabrégas is not for sale at any price. A move is unlikely to happen because Barcelona is refusing to pay more than £40million for Fabrégas. If Arsenal were to sell, then they would be looking for a figure similar to the one Real Madrid paid for Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United.
Fabrégas has been used mainly as a substitute during the World Cup for Spain, but he came off the bench to great effect in the final to set up Andrés Iniesta to score the winner in the 116th minute. He dedicated the win to the Arsenal fans and his fellow Arsenal teammates.
“All I can say is that this is for the Arsenal players, for the Arsenal fans, for the manager and for all of the staff. I had a text from Wenger which said 'Congratulations, you deserve it.' I replied thanking him very much and said this is for all the Arsenal club, manager and players who have helped me be where I am today. I am really proud to have been an Arsenal player. It is for all of them – they deserve it and they have a world-famous club,” he said.
Fabrégas has been surrounded by Barcelona players and playing with them for over a month, but he is still remaining quiet on his future. He knows where his future lies, but whether he gets the move he craves is another matter.
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