As news of the transfer of former Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas from the London side to Catalan giants Barcelona FC dies down and the player made his debut for his home side in the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup, which Barca won, we Arsenal fans are left with a bitter taste in the mouth.
The deal, worth $42 million or 34 million Euros, should have happened atleast 1 or 2 years ago. Forget the fact that this transfer was done so late, right at the beginning of the 2011-12 season, leaving Arsenal with little time to trade for & integrate new quality players into the squad. Did you see Fabregas playing for the Gunner the last two years? He was only half into the games, looking a lot like a player who does not want to be with his side. This was especially evident last year in the few games that he did play.
If a player does not want to be there and is courted by another club, in this case Fabregas’s home club of Barcelona, there is no point in keeping him unless you can convince him that here is where he belongs. Arsene Wenger clearly did not achieve that and his squad’s captain looked like a guest player who didn’t want to be at his club. That is the worst thing that a player can do, especially one who has become a world famous star with the club’s help.
Fabregas was part of the Barcelona youth system and was signed on by Arsenal at the age of 16. Admittedly he was already well molded by that age but his blossoming into one of the best attacking midfielders of the current age was done at Arsenal & he was treated like royalty over there. Wenger had a lot to do with that and Fabregas should have been more grateful. Sure he has stated that he has nothing but praise for Arsenal; he didn’t play like he belonged to them for the better part of the last two seasons! He should have given it a lot more and I’m glad that he is gone.
Arsene – I implore you! Please go and buy some good quality players even if it’s a short term gain. The squad looks lean.