Cesc Fabregas' move from Arsenal to Barcelona inevitable

Possibly the biggest and most hyped transfer of the summer is seemingly a done deal, although as of yet no money has changed hands and no move has actually taken place.

Cesc Fabregas’ protracted transfer from Arsenal to Barcelona continues to rumble on with all the drama of a soap-opera love triangle, despite everyone involved already knowing the eventual outcome.

Arsenal don’t want to lose their inspirational captain, Fabregas remains no committal on his future and Barcelona are unwilling to break the bank in their pursuit of his signature, but despite this Mexican stand-off seemingly halting his transfer, the Catalan club remain remarkably confident of a move in the future.

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell made obtaining Fabregas’ signature the cornerstone of his election campaign and even though he failed this time around he remains optimistic for the future.

“Arsenal feels very hurt by Barca,” Rosell told Catalan TV3. “They don’t want to listen to offers or sell and they are not putting the player on the market. There was a strong dispute a few months ago and they have not forgotten it.

“He will arrive, even if it is not now, it will be next year. We will see. One thing that is certain is that we will not go mad trying to sign him. No shareholder would pay 60 or 70m euros for him.”

Rosell’s optimism isn’t though based entirely on blind hope in order to fulfil his election promise, as there is seemingly a genuine belief at the Catalan club that Fabregas will be a Barcelona player by the start of next season.

Midfield dynamo Xavi is so confident of his arrival that he believes the move is ‘inevitable’.

“We know where Cesc wants to be this coming season, but perhaps there is not enough time for Barcelona and Arsenal to agree a deal,” he told the Daily Express.

“Arsenal need to understand they are only delaying the inevitable.

“If we don’t manage to get his signature this season then Arsenal only really have him on loan for a year - because there is nothing they can do to stop him joining next summer.

“I haven’t given up on him joining us this season but, if he doesn’t, it won’t be more than a year before he is back home.

“His people will have a whole season to sort out the deal between the two clubs and it will happen at the very latest next summer.”

Shaggy-dog Carles Puyol is also certain that the Arsenal skipper will become a Barcelona player by next season.

“Cesc is a really nice guy and desperate to become a Barcelona player,” Puyol said in the Daily Star Sunday.

“He is the future of Barcelona and Arsenal can’t do anything to stop that. I have just spent six weeks with him and there is only one club he wants to be at.

“The worst-case scenario is that we have to wait another 12 months for him to join us - but Arsenal, Barcelona and Cesc know that is the very worst-case scenario.”

Fabregas has attempted to distance himself from the continuing speculation surrounding his long-drawn-out move, but he cannot deny his desire to return to the team he played for as a youth.

“I have not spoken to anybody in the last few days and I want to ignore anything regarding my future for now,” he told Sky Sports.

“I want to enjoy my holidays and I don’t want to talk about Barcelona at this moment.

“I make no apologies for the comments I have made in the past. I have expressed my interest in returning and I stand by that, as that is my personal wish.”

While Arsenal have provided Fabregas with a fantastic platform from which to launch himself, there is now a certainty to his departure.

Having been forced into a Barcelona shirt during Spain’s World Cup celebrations there is seemingly a momentum of will carrying Fabregas to the Camp Nou that is only delayed by his slow but inevitable divorce from his English love.

Unable to offer the success, prestige and boyhood dreams held by Fabreags to play for Barcelona, Arsene Wenger can only express a desperate desire to hold onto his most prized possession.

“Now the story has to stop,” he told the BBC. “Cesc is our captain, he is so important to us. We want to keep him.”

Posted By Dan Mobbs - Wednesday July 21, 2010.
Tags: Arsenal, Cesc Fabregas