Farewell Fabregas?

By Andy Jones, a distraught Arsenal supporter writing from London

What can I say, as an Arsenal fan this is definitely some of the worst news we can hear, Fabregas wanting to leave. He is our heartbeat, the definition of modern day Arsenal, sleek, sublime, the greatest passer we have, and, of course, our Captain.

The fact that only this season he was handed a new contract, with some of the highest wages the club has ever paid out along with the fact that Wenger choose to give him the arm band ahead of say van Persie, the team being built around him, from the way we moved him further up the pitch and have a holding midfielder to give him freedom on the pitch and the fact the fans completely loved him (this has changed for some), makes his asking to be sold, for me personally, a hurt wrenching insult to the club and us fans. Yes, he has the right to be happy and to go back to his boyhood club, but after signing a new contract so recently and knowing full well that this summer the club has the financial power to buy players of his calibre to balance out the team, his moment to say he wants to leave is selfish.

If Cesc leaves, it undermines our whole squad, from all the work Wenger has done to put it together, the effect it has on the rest of the team, the message it sends out to the rest of the squad as well as potential transfer targets this summer. The implications are huge, which is why we must take note of Barca saying they will respect our wishes if we don’t want to sell Cesc. He is our most prized asset, we must hold on to him at all costs. The fact that Peter Hill Wood (our chairman) has come out and said he isn’t for sale is good, but Wenger never holds onto a unhappy and want away player, so you have to wonder if the bid comes in, Hill Wood will leave it to Wenger, so will the Professor stick to his normal ideas?

Finally, you have to look at the facts and say if he does go. Let’s be honest, him going to the world cup surrounded by Barca players isn’t in our favour. We have to think about who we can get to replace him, the only like for decent replacements are already at Barca: Xavi and Iniesta! Nasri, on his day could fulfill the role, but he isn’t consistent enough, Ramsey and Wilshere, could maybe in a couple of years, but not this coming season. So who is out there that we could realistically sign? Not many, my favourites would be one of the following, Gourcuff and Arteta, off the top of my head. Both will be expensive, Arteta would most probably cost at least £10 million if not 15, while Gourcuff, already slapped with a 25 million euro price tag, would be hard to sign considering Bordeaux, especially their chairman, are unhappy with us signing Chamakh on a free transfer and also with the way we signed Wiltord all those years back.

But in reality, every Arsenal fan will be praying Cesc doesn’t go, because as good as other players are, they’re not him and for me especially, while we’ve had superstars before, Henry, Bergkamp, Wright, none of those except Henry were around when I was truly falling in love with the game, as I’ve grown up and as I’ve become more and more in love with my team, he has grown as a player and in stature, he for me has been my favourite player in a long time, he’s the name I have on the back of my shirts and the first player I look for in line ups. If he leaves, the consequences for the club could be huge.

What do you think of Fabregas’ transfer request?