Evening Not sure if you guys are aware but Guillem Balague, who does La Liga footy on Sky Sports, has stated that Cesk will be going for €29m fixed, 6m in add ons and 5m from Cesc himself (1m a year for 5 years). Apparently it's a done deal. BBC Sport have also stated a deal is believed to be very close. What do you guys feel about him paying a load of the transfer fee himself? (if its true). I would be appauled. Have you got time to replace him? What does this mean for the likes of Nasri?
Should it be true that he is contributing to the transfer fee then it can only emphasise his desire to return to his boyhood club. I wouldn't blame him if he wishes a change of environment. We all do now and then so why not footballers? What would be preferable is a quick end to all this procastination and we get a fee we are happy with. Then we can go and get Juan Mata. As for Nasri, my view is that City can have him for the right price if he isn't going to stay with us beyond 2012. No point flushing £20+mil down the tube on account of a player who is only good for five months of the year. With our swelling ranks of midfielders we need a CB and perhaps LB more than we need Nasri. My 2c
Nasri's decline in form in the 2nd half of last season was one of the most disapointing aspects of last season
Going back to the Mata situation for a moment if I may gents, It would just be Murphy's Law if the much mooted clause which would see his release be considerably more than if we had wrapped up the deal last week, be visited on us. This is something our management and negotiators ought to have known about and if the club is out of pocket, they would just look so silly since at least the Nasri conundrum could have been resolved in time to prevent us being out of pocket. Would you agree? Assuming of course, we settle on Mata.
Go for Mario Goetze, even if he will cost you £50m it will be bloody worth it. Even says that he likes Arsenal (...and Barca), doubt his club will let him go though.
the way barcelona do their business stinks. they clearly think they have some divine right to sign fabregas for a knockdown fee, and the way their players have publicly tapped up the player is just scandalous. he has now been at the top of his game for about 4 years, and in todays market £35m is a low fee for a world class player. you see players being sold for that who only have the potential of fabregas. we saw it last year with mascherano how barcelona made pathetically low bids in order to unsettle the player, who then becomes worth less and so they secure the player for less than what he's worth. they may be good to watch, but off the pitch they are a disgrace to football.
We bargin with those clubs in PRIVATE to get the price we want. Barcelona for 2 years have been going public with how they want Fabregas and how he will come. Xavi has done this about ten times over these 2 years. Infact nearly all their players have. The way they do their business does stink.
Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas is close to signing for European champions Barcelona for a fee believed to be about £35m. The transfer, one of the most protracted in Premier League history, is yet to be completed but Arsenal expect it to be done by the weekend. According to a senior source at the club, all the funds generated by the sale will be reinvested in new players. The Gunners have been linked with Scott Dann, Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger looks intent on strengthening his defence and reports have suggested centre-backs Dann of Birmingham, Everton's Jagielka and Cahill of Bolton could be targets. Fabregas, 24, would be unable to feature for Barcelona in the Champions League if he plays a part in Arsenal's match with Udinese on Tuesday, motivating both clubs to complete a deal before that game. The BBC understands a fee of £30m, plus over £5m of additional performance-related payments, is close to being reached for Fabregas. It is believed that, if he is sold, the Spaniard will be due £4m in compensation - £1m for each year of his contract he did not complete - but may be prepared to forego that payment in order to facilitate a deal. Negotiations have been conducted by Barcelona's Vice-President Josep Maria Bartomeu and is believed to be a final take-it-or-leave-it offer, leaving Arsenal having to sell one of the major assets or keep a player who has his heart set on a move. The transfer fee is significantly less than the £40m that Arsenal had been holding out for and suggests that the Gunners felt they had no choice but to sell a player who wanted to leave. Fabregas, who has 58 caps for Spain, joined Arsenal from the Catalan giants in 2003 and, since making his name in north London, has been persistently linked with a return to his boyhood club. Wenger will now turn his attention to keeping Samir Nasri at the club, who has refused to sign a new deal at the Emirates amid speculation of interest from Manchester City. If the Fabregas deal goes through as expected, he will become Barcelona's second major signing of the summer following their £23m purchase of Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14482418.stm --------------- Unlucky
Will be sad to see him leave the prem, even if it does weaken Arsenal and help us nick fourth. He's a fantastic player and a joy to watch at times
If he does leave we have other players more than ready to fill the gap and we will not sell him unless a suitable replacement has been found.
I admire your optimism but I can't see how it isn't a negative to lose your captain and best player. Do you think maybe you should change your formation to a bit of a more traditional 4-4-2? Walcott could finally get the opportunity to play regularly as a striker which is where Wenger wants him to end up.
Anyone who says losing him isn't a loss is deluding themself. The rumour is now that Nasri will be joining City in a couple of hours too. The only way Cesc leaving won't be a blow is if the money goes on 2-3 very solid new players. We won't get a player like for like ability-wise (at least not for the pittance Barca have r*aped us to get him for - another matter I know) but that can allow us to improve other areas enough that we shouldn't feel the loss. Assuming Wenger has people lined up though my faith in his signings recently has been sorely tested. I will wish Cesc all the very best when he goes and will miss him as our player. Barca, however, are tw*t-monkeys and can f*ck the f*ck off.
Without Cesc and Samir we will be toast this coming season. It is sheer naivety to think we will compete without these two. Wenger won't spend any of the money on new players. He never does. Gunners fans prepare for the wilderness. Time for a change of manager me thinks.
