There are different ways of interprating the latest comments of Barcelona’s new signing Cesc Fabregas, even if they might just be more of the usual rhetoric churned out for interviews, people can reveal a lot when not on their guard.
Fabregas spoke of his joy at re-joining his boyhood club, and says he will relish the strong competition for places in the star-studded lineup of the European Champions.
Interestingly, despite the likely outcome of the move being that he will simply sit and watch from the bench as Barca sweep home all trophies before them once again, he feels glad to be out of the comfort zone at Arsenal.
He said: “The easiest thing would have been to stay at Arsenal.
“I’m the captain, playing every game. We are always in the Champions League, always fighting for titles.
“For all that, and the tough competition here, perhaps now might be the worst time to return to Barca. It’s going to be really tough to make the starting XI, but I needed a new challenge in my life.
“I thought I’d stagnated a bit, and needed a change of scenery. I needed a special motivation to bring the best out of myself.”
The automatic response to that would be – if you want a challenge, why go to the best team in the world and be a bit-part player? Why not stay as captain at a rather more unfancied club and lead the team to its first success for nearly seven years?
Perhaps because that’s not really how everyone else at Arsenal sees it?
If Samir Nasri’s comments are true, that he saw Arsenal as a ‘stepping stone’ in his career before a bigger move elsewhere, there’s no reason to think others aren’t thinking the same thing, and going from Wenger’s recent priority of making a profit over winning silverware, then why not?
Sure, Cesc will be surrounded by quality at the Nou Camp, but there is still the expecation to win – every trophy, and every season. Simply winning La Liga and missing out on the Champions League final in 2010 was seen as something of a failure at the club.
Sure, in some respects the challenge here, to bring the team back to the top, is greater because of the team’s slow downfall over the years, but it must be remembered that the downfall has been entirely self-inflicted, because Wenger talks every year about how simply qualifying for the Champions League is an achievement, perhaps more so than winning the Carling or FA Cup.
The club’s new motto should be: It’s the taking part that counts. And that’s certainly now how things are done at Barca.
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