Cesc Fàbregas on the brink of Arsenal exit
After reports emerged that Arsenal captain Cesc Fàbregas wants a move back to his boyhood club, Barcelona, it’s now only a matter of time until Gunners’ fans receive the news they’ve been dreading.
However, the Daily Star have suggested this morning that Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has no intention of selling the Spain international.
The 23-year-old has spent seven years at the club, and has established a reputation as one of world football’s most talented central midfielders in that time. But, after leaving the Nou Camp in 2003 in search of first-team football, it now seems inevitable that Fàbregas will return to the Catalan giants.
Arsenal boss, Arsène Wenger, isn’t expected to stand in the way of the Spanish midfielder if reports are to be believed. However, the Frenchman insisted in April that Fàbregas was going nowhere this summer, and was even quoted as saying: “Players at the end of contracts can sign where they want but, with the players who are under contract, we decide on their future.”
But just as Manchester United found with their star man, Cristiano Ronaldo, in 2009, if a player expresses a desire to move, it’s nigh-on impossible to change their minds – particularly when a club as big as Real Madrid or Barça are involved.
With Fàbregas under contract until 2014, though, the ball is still very much in Arsenal’s court. And if Barça are to get their man, they’re going to have to pay through the nose for the privilege.
The estimated figure to clinch the Spaniard is expected to be around the £40million mark. This is where the transfer could encounter one or two problems - Barcelona’s valuation of the player is thought to be as much as £10million lower than that.
There have been murmurs that a part-exchange deal involving Yaya Touré will be the most likely outcome from this deal. In which case, £30million would probably be more than substantial for the Gunners.
Understandably, though, they’re reluctant to part with their prized asset. The Arsenal captain has been inspirational during his spell in England and will be extremely difficult to replace. Perhaps even impossible.
Fàbregas stated that he wanted his future to be resolved before the start of the World Cup; but if the Primera Liga outfit refuse to stump up the cash, then there’s every possibility that this one will run and run until the transfer deadline slams shut in September.
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