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by GEORGE PEACE Some very interesting words from Arsčne Wenger have surfaced recently. Ever since the ‘news’ broke that our captain Cesc Fabregas had informed our manager that he ‘wanted to leave Arsenal’, the widely accepted belief is that he’ll be a Catalan by the time The Gunners kick off the 10/11 season.
Trying, as I do, to winch myself from the usual media maelstroms, and view the news as objectively as possible – I’ve always been of the opinion that Fabregas will be here for at least one more season before going back home.
There was never been any solid justification to the claims that Fabregas had asked to leave, nor did he hand in a transfer request. When first questioned publicly, Cesc said nothing that suggested he was trying to leave, simply telling us that he’d had a brilliant chat with Arsčne Wenger and was happily leaving everything in his manager’s hands. Then, an insultingly low offer was tabled by Barcelona – only to be met by the Arsenal board by the bureaucrat’s version of ‘bog off’.
Sorry for sounding like Rafa Benitez here, but those are the facts. In actuality there’s very little information that suggests a deal for Cesc is anywhere close to being done. Combine that with what Arsčne Wenger has said in his latest interview and the prospect of Fabregas remaining a Gunner (for the time-being at least) seems to become a plausible prospect.
So, here’s the reason why you probably clicked on this article, here is what Arsčne said when a Sky reporter asked the inevitable. Regarding Fabregas, Wenger said: “What’s important is that he comes back [from South Africa] to Arsenal, he has a great desire to do well for the club. We want to keep our best players, that is my huge determination. I’ve built this team for years; from 16 to 17 years of age for most of the players, and we want to continue to work with them because we feel we are very close [and want] to strengthen the team in a very strong way.”
That same report went on to say that Wenger believed the odds of Fabregas remaining at Arsenal to be around 80%.
Personally, I’m much more inclined to listen to what Arsčne Wenger says in a 60 second interview, than to what is being sensationalized by over-stimulated tabloids and under-paid bloggers. Am I going too far by ‘expecting’ Fabregas to still be leading the line next season?
I realise some cynics will lambaste me for listening to what Arsenal representatives have to say. There is ofcourse the possibility that all this ‘banter’ among Arsenal, Barça and Cesc, is indeed just a front to make fans think, that when Cesc inevitably leaves, we tried our damndest to hold onto the lad. The idea that a deal has already been put in place and everyone’s just playing out a publicity drama and chuckling when the camera’s off.
Either is arguably possible. But I happen to lean on the side of what our club is saying. I find it easier to believe that our club is unwilling to flog its captain, and that he’s still enjoying life in North London, than the idea that we’re a feeder club with purely financial motives.
At the risk of exuding a little more optimism than many Gunners feel comfortable with – I’ll end with the recent reports that quote the in-demand centre-half Laurent Koscielny as saying he “absolutely wants to join Arsenal”. We’ve supposedly already had an offer rejected by Lorient who are retorting by demanding a much more substantial fee.
A player reportedly wanting a move to a more successful club, but his current employers don’t want to sell him on yet? This scenario feels oddly familiar…
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