For the past two years now, talk about Arsenal captain, Cesc Fabregas have been making headlines all over the footballing community with his potential move to boyhood club, Barcelona being the centre of attention.
With Barcelona desperately trying to sign the Arsenal captain, Arsenal fans have grown both weary and frustrated regarding the incessant transfer speculation. With the transfer window about to reopen once again, you can expect no shortage of intense transfer talk about the Spaniard.
Arsenal fans and the club will be desperate for the transfer saga to finally come to an end even if it means losing their beloved club. On one hand, Arsenal fans will want the World Cup winner to continue with them. In Fabregas, Arsenal have one of the best midfielders in the world and they will want to keep hold of their captain. But on the other hand, they also realize that Arsenal is a club with a huge stature on the world stage and to play for the Gunners is something to be proud of. It is obvious that Fabregas himself is unsure of where his future lies and he still maintains the dream of playing for the Catalan giants. Next season represents a huge season for Arsenal, Wenger and everyone associated with the club as the entire club is under immense pressure to finally win a major trophy after a lengthy gap of six seasons.
In such a situation, the Gunners will require their players to be fully motivated to that task and commitment is essential for the Gunners to be successful. If Fabregas himself is unsure of where is allegiance lies then the question that begs to be answered is, should Arsenal look to get rid of their captain and talisman?
When it comes sheer quality and ability to make things work, Arsenal should do their best to keep the Spanish playmaker. But if his commitment to the Arsenal cause is in wane, then Arsenal should let La Blaugrana sign their ex-youth player.
While many Arsenal fans do not expect Fabregas to display the antics that Liverpool fans were witness to in regard of Javier Mascherano, one can never be too sure in world where loyalty to clubs is decreasing with every passing day.
While we the fans will want the matter to be resolved this summer itself and will want this saga not to extend any longer, it will be ultimately, Arsene Wenger who will have to make the move.
Wenger has stated time and time again that he hopes to keep his captain at the Emirates, if Fabregas’ commitment is really in question then Wenger should not look to keep a player who is not fully committed to his club.
But selling him can cause further problems to Arsenal and Wenger.
Fabregas represents everything Arsene Wenger hopes to achieve through his long term vision: signing young talent and converting these players not just into good players but into world beaters. When you talk about world class players at Arsenal there are only a few: Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri, Bacary Sagna and Thomas Vermaelen. And of course Cesc Fabregas. Right now Arsenal are slowly building a team with plenty of extremely talented youngsters who can turn into world beaters in a couple of years. But for them to reach their heights, then they will need the experience of players like Fabregas to guide them.
Selling any of these top draw players would be a step backwards for the club and Arsenal cannot afford that. They are in a situation where selling a top class player would further derail the continuity of the long term goals. Arsene Wenger’s vision is based on turning these young and talented players into world class performers and then building the team around them. It does not involve them being sold off when a ‘big’ club comes calling.
Wenger realized this and in the summer of 2009 looked to build his team around the immense creativity and vision of the Spaniard as he changed the Arsenal formation into 4-2-3-1 in an effort to maximise the effect of Fabregas. It is suffice to say that when he has remained fit, Wenger’s decision to change the formation has worked wonders and Fabregas has performed at a top level for the Gunners.
What happens when Wenger sells him is that, it takes time for a replacement to have the same effect whether the player replacing him happens to be a player already at the club or if he happens to be a replacement bought from another club or league. This means that the squad takes more time to win a trophy and for Arsenal fans the pain will continue.
It has been about six years since Wenger started to implement his long reaching plan with the aim of laying a strong platform and creating a stable atmosphere, both in terms of financial safety and player quality. It should be around this time that the plan and vision should be coming into fruition. The fact that the Gunners failed in their quest for a trophy this season means that next season, there is no excuses and a trophy has to be brought to the Emirates. There are few midfielders better than Fabregas right now and those who may be close to him are too expensive and are not realistic transfers that might be made by Wenger.
Also currently Fabregas is undoubtedly one of the world’s best midfielders in football right now and there are few players who can be signed to replace him at a decent price range. That means it would be tough to replace him and while Arsenal have the likes of Nasri, Ramsey in their team, these players are not ready to replace Fabregas especially the latter while some see Nasri as capable of replacing Fabregas.
Ramsey is undoubtedly the future replacement to Fabregas but his injury has set back his development by at least one year and right now he is not ready to take up the mantle of playing in the central midfield role. Samir Nasri has expressed his interest in playing in the central midfield role but he is of a different mould of Fabregas as he relies more on his supreme dribbling skills rather than skill and vision, something which Fabregas does. While Nasri might thrive in the central midfield role, his style of play is different to that of Fabregas and not to mention that his future too is uncertain, but he should end up staying mostly.
So selling Fabregas might be a step backwards for Arsenal and with desperation for a trophy reaching its peak, Arsenal can hardly afford any slip ups right now.
But another school of thought also shows that no player is ever irreplaceable and the club is always bigger than the player. Teams like Manchester United and Liverpool have shown, through the Cristiano Ronaldo and Fernando Torres sagas respectively that while players may come and go, there is no doubting the fact that no team is dependent on a player.
So Arsenal fans will be hoping that even if Fabregas’ dream move to his motherland does go through, the club that is Arsenal will continue to perform, will continue to survive.
This summer, Arsene Wenger who looks set to lead some major changes at the club, is faced once again on questions regarding the future of his captain. Last year around, Wenger was successful in convincing his prodigy to stay at Arsenal but with the failure of his Arsenal side to win trophies once again, one wonders if he can do so once again this season as well.
But if anyone could convince, Fabregas it has to be the Frenchman. After all it was Wenger who gave Fabregas a chance at regular first team football and it was Wenger who groomed Fabregas into the player he is now.
But if the Spaniard is truly desperate to move to Spain, then preventing the transfer is merely hindering the club and their quest for a trophy. Wenger faces a huge decision on his hand as at one hand he wants to keep his prized possession and his biggest asset and yet at the same time, he is desperate to win trophies with the Gunners.
The ideal situation will be if Fabregas is willing to commit his long term future to the Gunners but only the transfer window will tell us how things pan out in one of the longest transfer sagas of recent memory.
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