After sunning myself in Tenerife for the past seven days, my access to sports news has been limited to the dross that usually is poured all over the red top rags supplied in hotel shops; obviously very limited sources to go on. However one story that has dominated all of the tabloids has been the tale of Arsenal’s want-away captain Cesc Fabregas. Whilst the prospect of moving back to his boyhood club, which also happens to be the best club side in the world right now, seems an almost insatiable prospect, I think the move would have a negative effect on young Fabregas’s career.
Whilst the obvious issue forcing Fabregas out is the fact that Arsenal haven’t won anything for the past six years, there’s also a sense that despite the moneybags bullies from the blue side of Manchester and London pushing forward with staggering player transfers and ridiculous wages, the Gooners made a wholly impressive push for silverware last season.
The only faltering point was the final run in of the season when they just lost their legs and slumped over the finishing line like a horse preparing itself for the glue factory. Fans have reacted angrily to another season of great hype and promise, only to fall flat when it counted, much like that David Haye fight the other night and they have every right to; if I was so used to winning trophies only to go on an extended drought (the drought with my club is approaching twenty years now being a Leeds fan) I’d be fairly disgruntled too. Arsene Wenger has taken full responsibility for the stuttering form and assured the fans that this season he intends to rebuild and improve (as mentioned in his brilliant letter to a complaining fan).
With this in mind, Wenger will need his captain at the centre to maintain a sense of team spirit and pull the players up when they’re being kicked down. Fabregas has an uncanny ability to do this at exactly the right time, and whilst he spent a lot of time on the physio’s table last term, when he was needed he made his impact.
Whilst the prospect of having £40m to spend would be almost too tempting to resist, Arsenal have always managed to produce brilliant talent on a small budget. Despite this, Arsenal apparently have quite the budget to spent this year and have assured their supporters that new faces will be coming to North London. When the manager brings in these new players he needs (a new, reliable striker most importantly) and tightens up the holes that slackened as the season wore on last year, I am sure the success will come back to the Emirates.
Another issue I take with Fabregas pottering off to Barcelona is that he would have about the same effect as the last Arsenal captain to pack his bags and settle in the Spanish capital, old Terry Henry. Arguably one of the deadliest goalscorers in Premier League history that I’ve seen reduced to a bit-part player kept out, and pushed onto the wings if he did play, by the class that was already there in the first team. I think this would be exactly the same issue if Cesc packed his bags from the considerable luxury of North London where he is considered one of the best in his side, to spend his time warming the bench watching the pairing of Andres Iniesta and Xavi displaying how to keep the ball in the middle of the park.
Both players won’t be going anywhere for the foreseeable future, probably staying on with the Spanish champions until their knees can’t take it anymore and force them into retirement. Fabregas is still a young player who I feel has yet to achieve his peak and he needs constant football in order to get to that summit. Therefore I think in order to get the best deal out of Barca, the Arsenal board and Wenger need to hold out until he has reached his peak, that season where he is an incredible force in the team (which he has all the potential to do), and then take an offer for him. By this time Iniesta and Xavi will have slowed and their influence on the team may not be perhaps what it is now, therefore giving Fabregas the chance to bully his way into the first eleven. Sure, Fabregas could pack up and move now and win trophies, but he’d almost certainly play a very limited role in the side as it is.
Overall, I think the young melodramatic Spaniard should listen to his head over his heart at the moment. Yes going back to his boyhood club where there are unlimited trophies to be won would be a delightful prospect but it would be a very much hollow dream. At least with the club that has nurtured him and moulded him into one of the best in the world for the last eight years or so he’ll have the opportunity to play regular football and prove to everyone that he is in fact one of the best in the world and not just another player with starry eyes going to warm the bench for the best years of his career.
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