From Andrew Johns : £50m?
“I still think Wenger should have sold him for £50 million in May.”
Who offered £50m in May?
I’m sure if someone had, Wenger would have accepted. As it stands, the reason Wenger didn’t sell him is because we weren’t offered his true value. The only thing standing in the way of Cesc’s dream move to Barcelona was Barcelona’s inability to stump up the cash when it mattered. Simple as that really.
From Hossein Motevalli : From the grass roots!
Myles
I wish to draw your attention to this interview with Paul Burgess, former Arsenal and now Real Madrid Groundsman.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/8953503.stm
Great quote:
“There is a different kind of pressure here compared to Arsenal,” he admitted. “There, the club is more about the future whereas at Real Madrid it is all about today. If they don’t do well today there is no tomorrow, so winning is everything.
“That transcends down to the groundsman as well. Everyone at the club has to have a winning mentality and if you don’t have that, then you aren’t part of the make-up of the club.”
These quotes further underline what Arsenal Colney Creche PLC is about.
When will Arsenal be about today? I hope it’s soon!
(Hope purchased from Arsenal PLC via salesman Arsene Wenger and costs me £1k a season)
From Bill : Cesc for £50M
Hi Myles,
I agree with you: if Arsenal could have sold Cesc for £50M they definitely should have.
However, you and I both know that was never on the table. You seem to forget that Barcelona played games with Arsenal and Cesc, putting in below market offers with the assumption that the player’s desire would let them get a steal… I think it’s a bit disingenuous of you to imply that £50M was ever on the table, as it certainly wasn’t!
From Jonathan : Your take on Fabregas
Miles
I’m a regular reader of your blog.
I disagree with you a lot but we are all entiltled to our opinion. It’s these differences that make the world go round.
Fabregas was at Barca until he turned 16. What happened then? Barca didn’t really want him then did they? Arsene offered him a way out to come to Arsenal. Arsenal had a very good squad at the time, but Fabregas got a few games and gradually developed his game. ARSENAL MADE HIM INTO THE PLAYER AND MAN HE IS TODAY. It is very naive and wrong to suggest Fabregas has Barca DNA through and through – his overall game developed at Arsenal. Fabregas signed a contract extension not so long ago didn’t he? Was he forced? No!!
You now continually refer to how frustrated he is and how key he is to Arsenal and so on…..He’s just a 23-year old kid with very little life experience. He owes a lot to Arsenal and he’s got a long contract with the club that made him into the man he is today. A big club like Arsenal will not be “blackmailed ” by a 23-year old just because he wants to go back to a club that really didn’t need him when he was 16, a crucial stage in the career of a footballer.
I believe he should not be the Captain of the club anymore but should stay beyond next season. Arsenal will release him when they feel it’s the right decision, not just because Barca tried all manner of pathetic excuses to get their dirty paws on a player they let go. Arsenal football club will continue without Fabregas and will also continue despite your sometimes very negative reporting.
In your negative reports, you fail to mention all these FACTS and you seem to condone the pathetic way Barca tried to lure Fabregas to Camp Nou.
From James Reiff : Fabregas
Myles
When I do email you they are normally long and ignored. Hopefully, this is shorter and acknowledged!
In your last article you stated:
“And I still think Wenger should have sold him [Fabregas] for £50 million in May”
I think, if Arsenal had received such a bid, they would have. But Barcelona wouldn’t (or more to the point, couldn’t) bid that much.
So maybe Fabregas should consider that and compare it with the financial effort they made to sign Ibrahimovic last year, when he says that Barcelona “did everything” to try and sign him?
From Stan Mortlock : Fabregas facing his toughest Arsenal season
I agree that Wenger should have sold Fabregas in May for 50 million pds.There is one minor problem and that is that Barcelona would only bid 29 million pds, and that probably was 2 quid down and the rest on the never- never. ( B***y hell they still have not paid for Henry or Hleb yet !)
If Fabregas wanted to go to Barcelona he should never have declared that he would only leave Arsenal for Barcelona.Basic demand and supply immediately reduced his price to zilch in Barcelona’s eyes. Why pay 50 million if you can get him for half of his value?
It is not a joke to see your best player in an opponent’s shirt. If Reina thinks that it is funny can we please see him in a Barcelona/Everton shirt?.Or Puyol in a Real Madrid shirt? This was an organised attempt by Barcelona to reduce the price that they should pay for Fabregas. In a free market. I believe that Fabregas would be worth 50 million pounds.
Arsenal should tell Fabregas he can return to Spain if he puts in a transfer request to either Barcelona or Real Madrid, and let the market determine his true value.
From Bode : Fabregas price tag is the reason he’s still a Gunner
I couldn’t help myself, I had to comment on this paragraph that you wrote in Fabregas facing his toughest Arsenal season.
“My opinion : Fabregas is leading a squad he no longer believes in. He’s a natural-born winner who doesn’t see himself holding up any trophies as Arsenal captain, so he wants to go. I don’t blame him. And I still think Wenger should have sold him for £50 million in May, just as I think Wenger should have bought Mark Schwarzer in May.”
Please don’t insult Gunners’ intelligence. We might be deluded when it comes to Arsenal, and act too sentimental, but we are not stupid.
At no point did Barca ever offer £50m for Fabregas; if they did he would be wearing the number 4 shirt for them right now. The only reason he’s at Arsenal is because a transfer fee wasn’t agreed. All this bull crap about being forced to stay is insulting to Arsenal FC, who has one of the worst PRs ever. I might not like Peter Kenyon formerly of Chelsea and the way he handled things like the Gallas and Cole transfer, but he would have made some statement by now to clear the air.
From Chris : Every Confidence
I’ve got every confidence in the guy.
Last year when a few people stepped up (Song, Diaby imo, Eboue, RvP even), he was clearly the most improved player at the club.
Three years ago when his early season goals ran out, so did Arsenal’s flow. Last year he scored all year and held the team together after RvP’s injury – and when he got injured, the team hit the buffers big time in a way that RvP’s return couldn’t prevent.
He needs to get in the Spain national team even more than he wants trophies imo and for that being at Arsenal is actually better for him, probably.
He’ll settle down, he’ll get better, he’ll be fine.
And, if enough new guys step up (Theo, Wilshere, Diaby again, Song again, Arshavin ffs, Bendtner, Ramsay, Denilson, Vela, Gibbs maybe could all make the team quite a bt better on their own). Whisper it quietly also project youth is just at the point where it might finally start to deliver properly (No! I’m serious – aside from non-home grown home growns, Gibbs and Wilshere are very close to the first XI, Frimpong, JET, Afobe and Aneke are all getting very close to where Gibbs and Wilshere were this time last year)
Myles replies :
Obviously, we all know £50m was never offered.
The point I was clumsily trying to make was this : I would have asked for £50m in May. I would have insisted on £50m.
I’d have said, “If you haven’t got it, borrow it now and pay us now. Fabregas will be the best signing you’ve made since Johan Cruyff.”
And to Cesc I’d have said, “Go with my blessing, it’s been great working with you for seven years. I’m sorry my youth experiment has failed. We wish you well, we owe you big time, you’ll always have a place in our hearts. And, of course, you’ll always be welcome at Arsenal, for the rest of your life. Come back and see us when you can. Well done, thanks for everything, and the best of luck to you.”