Football Transfer News: Cesc Fabregas Decides To Stay At Arsenal
The final episode of the first season of Cesc Fabregas’ transfer saga is over, and like any other soap opera, the story ended exactly from where it started. After months of speculation and dramatic events, the Arsenal captain has finally decided to stay at the Emirates Stadium, at least for another year.
Fabregas was worried that the reaction of the Gunners’ fans would not be hospitable towards the midfielder if he kept on bragging about joining Barcelona. Therefore, Fabregas assured fans, during his press conference, that he has finally made up his mind and the delay was caused by his own uncertainty about his future. Also, he showed his commitment to bring a trophy in the next season, after a dry spell of five long years.
Although the whole point of press conference was that the midfielder should show his commitment to Arsenal, he still held a soft corner for Barcelona. He declared his love for Barcelona, because of the reason that Cataluña is his hometown. However, in the end, he assured Arsenal fans that his full focus would be on playing for Arsenal as the season starts, without thinking about any other club.
Cesc Fabregas might feel that he has been denied a rare opportunity by Arsenal, which might get him into trouble with Arsene Wenger. However, he was professional enough to disclaim any such statements by declaring his love and support for Arsenal players and manager.
The seeds of Fabregas’ transfer, from Arsenal to Barcelona, were sown after Barcelona’s rebirth under Pep Guardiola. As the new manager focused on home-grown talent, it was quite clear that he would come after Fabregas, who is also a product of Barcelona’s youth academy. This summer, the transfer saga started with a £30M bid made by Barcelona. However, Arsenal rejected the bid by saying that the player is worth more than his current market price, which seemed a rather logical statement.
This whole drama also involved emotional blackmail. When Fabregas was away in South Africa for the 2010 World Cup with the Spanish side, he was joined by many players from Barcelona FC. All these players toyed with the emotions of Fabregas, by giving regular statements in the press showing their desire of Fabregas joining Barcelona. During the victory celebrations of the World Cup, some of the Barcelona players forcibly put a Barcelona shirt on Fabregas. These events did nothing but weaken the chances of Barcelona, as Arsenal’s stance got stronger and stronger.
During this time, Arsene Wenger made a few public statements about Barcelona’s behaviour, displaying his anger as well. He discouraged the attitude of Barcelona players, who were only trying to unsettle the player by breaking his concentration level. Also, there was no coherency in Barcelona’s statements. Sandro Rosell, the President of the club, said that Barcelona is keen to re-establish its relationship with Arsenal. However, Guardiola kept on saying that Arsenal is only trying to stop the inevitable. Thus, the role played by Barcelona, during this whole drama, was not good for the reputation of the club itself.
Although Arsene Wenger showed a stern resistance in stopping the midfielder from leaving Arsenal, the real help came from Providence. Sandro Rosell’s team found out they incurred heavy losses under Joan Laporta, previous President of the club. The losses were very high, and the real problem seemed to be the wage budget of the players. After such a grave discovery, it was expected that the club would back down, for now, from signing Fabregas, although at one point it seemed that they were ready to meet any demands made by Arsenal.
However, the end of story is better for the midfielder himself. At Barcelona, amongst a lot of talented players, Fabregas would never have had a chance to hold his place in the starting line-up. In Arsenal, at least, he has a chance to show his playing-prowess once again, and this time he has to prove himself to the world by winning something for the club.
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