It’s not Cesc’s time to move on + The Cannon is 4 today 18 May, 2010
Posted by lasagnechef in Arsenal News.trackback
I’ve come home today to see news breaking everywhere that Cesc is off to Barcelona after a meeting with Arsene Wenger. Nothing has been confirmed, nobody knows the truth but a lot of people are running around like headless chickens. I will admit I am concerned but I have by no means conceded to losing our captain. He recently said he wants to get his future sorted before the World Cup which surprised me when he’s committed himself to us so many times:
“I want to make a decision about my future before the World Cup. It’s impossible to perform at a tournament such as the World Cup if you’re not fully focused on the sporting aspects of the game. It does not benefit anyone.
If I ever leave Arsenal it will be to play for Barcelona. I would like to go, whether they want me or not is another matter. I am 23 years old and I have a long career in front of me. I’ve never hidden the fact that playing for Barcelona is a dream that I would like to fulfil.
I’m very happy at Arsenal. I’m in no hurry to leave the club. Barcelona are still playing for the Liga title and I’m still an Arsenal player. It would be a lack of respect to discuss a transfer now.
No candidates for the Barcelona presidency have approached me, so I don’t feel used.”
I find it very weird reading that, it doesn’t sound like it’s something he would say and it’s completely contradictory. The bit about one day joining Barcelona is nothing we haven’t heard before, so is his confirmation he’s happy at Arsenal but I don’t know what he’s talking about sorting his future out before the World Cup. Unless he wants to sort out a new deal or he wants to leave now then I don’t know why he would say that.
News is breaking all over the net that he’s said he wants to move on already and apparently today he’s told Wenger he wants to go to Barcelona. We’ve heard these sort of rumours come out before but today seems like the worst it’s ever been. I usually would just wave these stories off as nonsense but when it’s so widespread as it is and you have respectable journalists such as John Cross confirming he could be off I start to get worried.
In the next few days or weeks I’m sure we’ll find out just how true these stories are and I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say I hope they’re not true. I would be absolutely gutted if Cesc moved on already; I’m ready to let him go one day but not now. I just feel it’s not his time to go, we’re so close to fulfilling our potential at Arsenal and I know Cesc wants to lift a trophy for Arsenal as much as we do. I just don’t get why he’d give up on us now, he would have to truly believe we’re not ever going to make it and to be perfectly honest without our captain we really are going to struggle to reach those heights.
There’s nothing we can do but wait until we get some official confirmation on this. If it’s all bollocks again I’m sure Fabregas will be pretty pissed off at having to declare his commitment yet again but it’s not us doing this it’s the Spaniards. I’m genuinely praying that Cesc stays, if only for just one more year. Please Cesc, not now.
Lets move on shall we and Chamakh is ‘understood’ to be in London holding talks with us. So basically that could mean anything, no ones spotted him in England or anything just someone ‘understands’ that he’s here, great. I’m sure he will be over at some point in the near future to discuss a possible move.
I’ve been writing The Cannon for four years today and to be honest it’s not the happiest birthday I’ve had! All this uncertainty about Cesc has got me worried. Apologies for another barren week on the blog, it’s been a busy seven days for me but I’m back now, so thanks for sticking by. Thanks to everyone that reads the blog and hopefully we’ll be celebrating the 5th birthday with a few more bottles of champagne and with Cesc Fabregas still on the books.
Whatever happens though I’ll still be here this time next May, talking crap about Arsenal never mind who plays for us and where our season ends up. That’s the quality thing about football, shit happens but you know the club will always exist and that’s all that matters at the end of the day – being a Gooner.
Thanks for reading the past four years. Speak to you soon.
You echo my thoughts exactly. I would feel very let down if he left this season, consigning us yet again to another two years of rebuilding. He knows more than anyone how we have just needed to hold on, we don’t need much to push us over the edge toward greatness.
The Spanish media drivel has come out all season. The only reason people like John Cross are picking up on it now is that there is no football on. The “quotes” coming from Spain are pathetic in the extreme.
The twitter and media led hysteria today has not helped the situation. I hope Cesc or Wenger comes out soon to stop this rot. And if he leaves, he’ll have gone down in my estimation as a captain and as a man. In his own words, there’s no hurry to go.
Cheers.
Funny but I could not care less, yes he’s a great player but so what, we got other great players in the squad, If he wants to go then get a good wedge for him and let him go!!
Love the article! I really hope all the rumours are not true but very worried
Cant believe those people who are already saying this and that amount of money would be a good deal, nothing about this deal would be good if it means Cesc leaving! So hope he stays!
So close to achieving our potential? Everyone seems to forget the gulf in class in both Chelsea games the 2nd Mancs game and both Barcelona games. We need a few more players in before we can mention achieving our potential.
I would not blame Cesc if he leaves. He does not owe us anything because he has been nothing but 100% committed on the park and he has given us some fantastic entertainment. Clubs continue no mater who comes and who goes. I believe we have a great team which will improve with Ramsey and Wilshere. Of course I want us to buy a quality goalie, couple of center backs and a striker as we are short of quality in these areas. I will get angry if Wenger does not fill these gaps but will not ask for his head because I believe the current squad should have done better this season. If we have to sell Cesc we should include Ya Ya Toure in the deal.
Happy birthday, lasagnechef. I’ll take four more years of you blogging about Cesc leading Arsenal to a cabinet full of silverware, myself.
If it’s not to be, I’ll keep reading about someone else leading us to the trophies. Cheers for everything.
Well the way I see it is, with Chamakh hopefully coming and if Cesc is to be sold and Yaya Toure is brought on, we would have a potentially amazing 4-4-2 with Yaya in the center mid and RVP/Chamakh up front. Cesc is brilliant but he’s definitely replacable.
If Cesc does go it will show that he has lost faith in the Wenger project but maybe not his philosophy. It will also underestimated Cesc. I completely understand Cesc’s decision. Its a no-brainer from his point of view.
if i knew ramsey was going to be back to full fitness sooner rather than later, we could have a midfield of song ramsey and wilshire, which will be as good as any, once they have a positional understanding, and if you throw yaya into the equasion, looking at 4231 formation look at this team and see if we would not improve
green
sagna soll tv gibbs
yaya song
rvp ramsey JW
chamakh
as time goes rambo can oust yaya and we still have nasri and diaby.
i say let them have cesc aa and clichy for 100 million !!and we can buy a bloody good bench new c-half
gotta disagree on all the wilshere stuff. know he’s young but I feel he is potentially another BENDTNER.. ARGHHHHH. Song, however is gonna be THE best midfielder
I was thinking more
hart
sagna {gallas rep} tv clichy
song
yaya ramsey(or eventually wilshere)
chamahk RVP arshavin
4-3-3 has done us well when the creative players who can pick a pass have been fit.
@Stonroy. I think the idea that we were outclassed by Man u and the chavs has been a bit overstated. We were better than Man u at OT, fair enough they were better than us at home but that can happen. Home against Chelsea was actually quite evenly matched but it was just Drogba vs Arsenal. We also pretty well matched them at SB. The thing is that Chelsea know how to win the big games due to greater experience. The fact it is not too long since they won owt means they have an advantage over our lads in terms of winning mentality. The actual footballing levels of the sides is not too far apart we just need to win something and the final piece of the jigsaw will be in place.
whats the big fuss about? This is a player who has helped us win….. nothing!! we were better before cesc and i am certain we will be better after cesc, having said that i am a bit sad he is leaving but he is no henry, vieira, Bergkamp who could win a game on their own, cesc didnt do that, or at least not enough and not against the big teams, the games against united and chelsea come to mind
Happy Birthday
Spot on josh leigh mathews. Cesc is great but not as great as Henry, Vieira and Bergkamp in their prime. We can improve with the money we get for him – if we spend it of course.
To be honest Lasagnechef there is too much smoke this time for there not to be a fire somewhere, its normal for AS and maybe sites like goal.com to kick off where there is the slightest wiff of a rumour but this is on a much bigger scale so it really isnt looking promising.
I really want him to stay but you do wonder if the continued speculation has just made him think he might as well get out now before putting up with another summer of rumours that always seem to happen to our players.
Congrats on the 4 years, keep it up mate
and Barcelona JEEZ! We lost 4 players for the season in the first leg. By the time came for the second we were like the walking wounded. Our whole spine was gone. How would Barca have done without Valdes, Puyol, Piquet, Xabi, Messi and their frontman? They had a couple of players out but not as devastating as that. You need a great deal of luck to weather the PL (with no winter break) and go far in the CL these days. The English teams always seem to have lost their lustre towards the final stages of the CL. I know Man U and Chelski got to the final 2 years ago but towards the end they were not firing but just managing to grind results out on sheer desire. The way the lower teams have enriched themselves over the last couple of years has now made the PL even more gruelling than it was then. There is probably a top 7 now.
well of course that is an “if” lol, but if he pulls out another henry or vieira for peanuts then i wont mind, in Arsene we trust!!
Slightly off topic, but would anyone be surpried if the following happenend.
We get Yaya from Barca.
Song reverts to being predominantly a CB.
We then have TV5, DJ, SOL, Billong,
We then buy only one more CB.
Song isn’t a great centre back.
On the contrare he’s an AMAZING DM
yaya plays a good box to box and is better to replace diaby.
Happy Birthday !!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us all this long..
The question is if Cesc leaves will Wenger renew his own contract..as Cesc was the most important link of the Dream Team he was trying to build..
Will it be another few years before a trophy..will be again fighting for CL or maybe even EL next season..
Or is Arsenal ready to spend big this year.and build a champions team.
Good post as usual. I wonder if Cesc just making sure that Arsenal make new signings?
If genuine, then I can’t see him going, but AW doing what he has done before: persuade him to stay, then spend a year searching for a replacement and instead selling him to everybody’s surprise the following summer.
I would rather he stayed of course.
If he leaves, Fabregas history with Arsenal will mostly have been a waste of investment. Of course we get money from him, but at the point where we’re finally ready to reap the harvest of his talent, he leaves? To me it doesn’t make sense, and if it happens, it seems like the end, not of Arsenal, but of Wenger’s experiment, and maybe even of Wenger’s history with Arsenal.
I blame leaving him in spain while he was injured :b
Surrounded by family, friends and other barca fans.
He probably got persuaded emotionally since he is a guy that goes with his desire and when he is surrounded by that kinda of influence, of course it’s gonna feel special.
/sigh
I feel kinda dumb quoting all the fabregas “i won’t leave this season” related comments over the season.
Comments regarding Cesc are spot on. Biggest problem with many blogs and the majority of comments being left are that they assume Fabregas leaving is a done deal. When he publically says adios I will accept and judge his behaviour, until then I’m not going to be sucked into the Barca mind games.
Comment within an article from Reuters tonight:
Rafael Yuste, one of the Catalan club’s vice presidents, said bringing Arsenal captain Fabregas back to Barca, where he was a youth player, was “more complicated because lengthy negotiations with his club lie ahead.”
Worried yes, panicing no.
I was certain he’dbe with us next season and possibly the season after. We all knew he’d go back to Barca one day and that’s fair enough but i really didn’t think it would be this summer especially after he constantly commited himself to the club throughout the endless speculation.
The last week or so has been worrying with qoutes attributed to Cesc qhich were totally different to those he’s said in the recent past.
I’m gutted. Barca, so the media say, said it’s now or never and that may have been the turning point for Ceco. He’s whole family are Barca and he may have seen his ftre there in 2 ears but if he’s been told it’s now or never then i guess it will be now.
The £30m being qouted is not nearly enough. Ramsey was going to be the ideal eplacement bt he’s not redy to step into those boots yet and we still don’t know what effect the sickening injry will have.
Getting Yaya as part of the deal will soften the blow slightly and a centre pairing of Song and Yaya looks an exceptional prospect but once again it will be a summer of trying to replace rather than building.
I don’t blame Cesc but i’m angry and gutted. One player doesn’t make a team and no player is bigger than our club but it’s heart breaking the thought of El Capitano leaving us. This isn’t how the love affair is meant to end……
You can bet your arse that Barca smoothies have been wining and dining the Fabregas family for ages. They are Barca fans anyway. I think Cesc would be silly to move now. Guarantee he expresses regret within 2 years if he does go. Barca are becoming perverse like Real. All about silly sugnings every window. £40 mill + Eto’o for Zlatan – ridiculous. Another thing whats all this bollocks about Barca DNA? Don’t make me laugh. They really rate themselves don’t they. “More than a club” my arse. Tossers more like.
I think Cesc will go and we better get used to it, starting now. I also think Wenger knew Fabregas was off this season because I never really understood the signing of Aaron Ramsey – but now I do.
Having said that, I feel Wenger’s plan is fatally flawed, he isn’t good enough a coachto win medals with kids – he’s too tactically weak. He was successful when Graham’s back five was passed down to him, and no brainer signings like Campbell and Gallas have helped continuity but at the moment the defending is a shambles and I don’t see it improving.
I think maybe Arsenal should get as much as they can for Cesc an Arshavin, wipe this debt off until it’s super-manageable then move Wenger upstairs or let him leave when is contract is up. It’s ridiculous trying to give Arsene a new contract now because fans will not tolerate this lack of success much longer and it would be silly to have to pay Wenger off when he could be let go for free.
After the world cup, bring Hiddink in. Let him splash the cash and get the tactics sorted out – there’s enough good players for us to remain a top 4 club and genuinely challenge for the title.
Happy birthday.
We don’t want Ibrahimavic.
What we need are some English/British blokes who are not mercenaries.
Scott Parker, Cahill, Green/Hart.
Foreigners get successful and then want to move on.
I’d rather watch 7 or 8 British players every week playing decent, hard football and occasionally winning something than this flick and fart passing game which falls apart against better teams.
Imagine this;
Green/Hart
Sagna Sol/Cahill TV Gibbs
Song Parker
Ramsey Wilshere
Walcott RvP
and who broke this “story”? Balague. Barcelona born, Barcelona supporter. Number 1 shit stirrer.
I just feel it’s not his time to go, we’re so close to fulfilling our potential at Arsenal-
disagree ,that`s talking like Arsene Wenger ,rember what he said when we reached the CL final with “such a young team” there`s too much fooling around ,wenger wanted to win the league with Cheap players,life doesn`t work like that project France aka Africa is a fuck up end of story,Wenger`s lost the plot and we will lose Cesc
Cesc sat down with Wenger and asked hin who hw would be signing.Cesc wanting to leave says it all
Cesc is too good a player not to be winning trophies.And he aint going to win trophies playing in a team with Almunia Denilson Diaby Eboue and Bender
Gf60
WRONG Balague was born in Barcelona but supports ESPANYOL.He says it often enough on Sky
Cesc leaving is the final nail in the coffin of Project Wenger.If the captain is rejecting it that says all you need to know.
It time for Wenger to resign NOW
Cesc leave Arsenal off to Barca, In Barca they have iniesta and xavi, Cesc only become a subtitue player
Sorry for the delayed reply, but the news is good today.
and here is why:
1) Barca don’t want him. 30mil is a punt and not serious. Especially if you consider 70 m for Torres. All rumors but we are responding mostly to rumors.
2) Cesc may want to go, but Wenger would not sell Cesc for 30m he would be shot by the fans. He would rather keep him on the bench if the boy goes all sulky, which he won’t.
3) Barca have can’t have the cash to offer more. They have made others a priority and not Cesc
4) It has to hurt if you up the stakes by saying you want to go and the club says yeah we will pay chicken change.
5) Wenger must be serious about a new striker and goalie and the team must be there or there abouts to challenge for titles.
6) Nobody has gone on to anything after leaving Arsenal except Henri and that is just medals not actual.
6) Cesc would almost certainly be marginalized in Barca, he is captain of Arsenal.
All leads me to believe HE AIN’T GOING
Cesc was a good player for us, and we wish him well at his next club, but it’s either that or rot in the reserves for me because any Arsenal player, see, who says he wants to play for another side has got to go or rot in the reserves until he gets his head back into shape.
That’s why Arsenal Supporters are asking if the boss can afford to let Cesc rot in the reserves, and most of them say take a few quid and send him off, cause frankly, we’ll carry on without players who don’t want to wear the shirt.