In the summer of 2011, which only 2 years ago, Arsenal lost one of their most popular players. At the time, he was the captain who had made over 300 appearances, scored 57 goals and made an impressive 100 assists – and he was only 24 years of age.
Cesc Fabregas was probably the biggest loss emotionally Arsenal have had for a long time. Players like Nasri, Adebayor and Van Persie have been and gone with hatred and resentment the main feelings, while Fabregas was a real icon at Arsenal. He came through the ranks, played alongside legends such as Bergkamp, Henry, Vieira and Gilberto, and was a massive part of our team. We’ve never had such a popular player leave at their peak, with players like Freddie, Bobby, Thierry, Dennis and Paddy leaving towards the end of their careers. So when Cesc left, it hurt. Badly.
I’ve bought every Arsenal home and away shirt since 1994. I’ve got a framed signed shirt from the 2005 FA Cup Winning Squad which is pride of place on the wall. Of all of the players I’ve seen since supporting Arsenal over 26 years, Cesc is one of the players I will always remember with great fondness.
He had fantastic vision, a great range of passing, could score some fantastic (and important) goals and most of all, he wore the shirt with pride. When he stepped onto the pitch with Arsenal, it mattered.
When he finally left, I remember watching compilations of him and getting teary. I’m not afraid to admit I got very emotional when Cesc moved on to Barcelona.
But now, there is a real possibility that Cesc could come back to Arsenal. Manchester United have placed a £25 million bid for the Spanish midfielder, but Arsenal have first refusal. So if we really wanted (and apparently we have the means to do so with our “war chest”) then we could beat United to the punch.
Arsenal rarely divulge their transfer targets but surely Manchester United’s £25 million bid would have alerted them and at least got Arsene Wenger thinking. How better to show the Arsenal fans that they were serious about turning things around and mounting a real challenge by having the return of the prodigal son?
So the big question is, would you welcome Cesc back to Arsenal?
I’ve already had a few messages on Twitter with people saying that they wouldn’t take him back because he’s not the same player he was but I would take him back in a heartbeat. A midfield of Cesc, Wilshere and Arteta, with Cazorla to boot? Yes please!
He left in 2011 for an initial fee of £25.6 million (which could end up being around £35 million depending on his success at Barcelona) so even if we got him for £30 million we wouldn’t have lost out too much. At the time, there was also a widely reported 50% sell on clause so depending on what Arsene is thinking, he may prefer to have half of any fee another club might pay for him.
Would Arsene Wenger consider taking him back? The relationship had always been more than amicable and even in Cesc’s first Barcelona press conference he told everyone how much he loved Arsenal and owed so much to Wenger.
And would Cesc consider coming back to Arsenal over moving to United? It’s clear that Manchester United are one of the teams that will be fighting for the title next season along with Manchester City and Chelsea.
Do we need to show our intent first by buying some top class players before Cesc would even think about moving back to Arsenal? Even though he loves Arsenal I’m sure if he was considering any move away from Barcelona one of the main issues would be how competitive the team is in terms of fighting for the major trophies.
So maybe he would need assurances that we were serious about bringing in some real quality this summer (remember, he’s seen this all when he was at Arsenal) before coming back to Arsenal.
A pipe dream? Perhaps, but I’ve seen stranger things happen!
So would you have Cesc back? Cast your vote below:
Yes, bring him back, he is great but I would also say YES bring him back so no other EPL club can have him.
Yes we have had a player leave in his peak, and he was a midfielder and to my mind even better than Cesc…I give you Liam Brady!!
If we are not going to bring in Fellaini-then yes!
Yes, if we can’t bring in FELLAINI!
Can’t believe someone has rated down my comment about Liam Brady, must be someone too young to remember, he had absolutely everything, a truly great player. His success in Italy (when it was the best league in the world) is also testament to that. This post only mentions players from the Wenger era, there was an Arsenal before Wenger you know! And at times a very good Arsenal as well.
Please make no mistake, Cesc is a wonderful player I just didn’t agree agree with the comment “We’ve never had such a popular player leave at their peak”
Whoever voted this comment down is either too young or has not been a true Arsenal fan. Arsenal fans were devastated when Brady left.
I voted a conditional “Yes”. Conditional because, if Arsenal were to bring back Cesc, he would have to understand that the attack would not be built around him as it was when he was with the club before going to Barcelona and–more importantly–he would have to be ready, willing and able to play his part defensively, which was not something that was really expected of him previously.
Cesc is most effective as a deep-lying midfielder. But, in the system that Arsenal are playing now, the two deeper lying midfielders have important defensive responsibilities that are essential to protecting the centre-backs when either or both of the fullbacks go forward on the attack. If either of those two midfielders gets knocked down, it is imperative that he get up immediately and track back on defense. That midfielder cannot lay on the pitch looking to the referee for a call or pleading for a card as Fabregas so often did during his Arsenal career. If Arsenal were to bring Cesc back, I would want Wenger to make sure that Fabregas understood, unequivocally, that he would be expected to give as much attention to his defensive responsibilities as to the attacking side of the game.
With more–and more mature–options than he had in his last couple of seasons with Arsenal, I would also want Wenger to make it clear to Cesc that he would have to adapt to the more diverse Arsenal offense as it currently exists and that the offense would not be built exclusively around him as it was in the past. Wilshere, Cazorla and even Arteta are all much more capable of making plays than the players that surrounded Cesc at the end of his Arsenal career.
At that point, he HAD to be the playmaker and the focal point of the attack, that’s not nearly as much the case now. Also, where he only had Adebayor or Van Persie as a finisher up front, Walcott has now developed into a much better scorer and he has Podolski, Giroud and Oxlaide-Chamberlain as well who can score–and that’s not even counting on the possibility that another potent scorer might be added to the roster before the season begins. Consequently, it would be very important for Cesc to understand that, if he comes back, he not only wouldn’t have to be the absolute focal point for the attack as he had been previously, but that he would have to accept that the attack should be and would be more diverse than it was.
I don’t know how happy Cesc would be to be told that he would have to be diligent in attending to his defensive responsibilities if he were to come back to Arsenal, but I don’t think that he would mind sharing the ball with Arsenal’s other playmakers that much. I think that Cesc would be able to see that, with better playmakers around him now, he would still be able to shine and would ultimately get a lot of the credit for helping to make the Arsenal attack truly prolific. And, if Fabregas is truly concerned about impressing Del Bosque enough to ensure a prominent place on Spain’s WC squad, that certainly would serve to do that.
From Arsenal’s perspective, bringing back Cesc would take a lot of pressure off of Cazorla and Wilshere and allow both of them to play their games more freely. It would also allow Wenger to rotate his midfielders more often so that they wouldn’t wear down as much as they did the last two seasons. It would definitely make the Arsenal attack more prolific–especially if the club adds a clinical striker up-front.
The only area where it would weaken the team is defensively–because, even if Cesc were to do a better job of playing his defensive responsibilities, Cesc isn’t very big or strong and has never shown a lot of interest in playing defense. But, if Cesc could be convinced that he has to attend to his defensive responsibilities better (as he was told that he had to do when he arrived at Barcelona) and does so just a bit better than he did when he was with Arsenal in the past, what he could contribute to the offense would more than make up for his defensive deficiencies.
So, yes, I would like to see the club bring him back. But, I would like to see those two points underscored to him if it did.
We need cesc but the problem is wenger she dont want to spent money
fabrigas’s profesional player in arsenal shirt. in all time but’s lack of first team Jersey in Barcelona now pls I need fabrigas in arsenal. Jersey again bcus Arteta’s going old take d ICO to d emirate &prepare for 2013/14 wnith higuain or suares pls arsene don’t give Man u a chance to talk
to ur boi bcus his ur time to shine in d EPL
I think it will be okay bringing cesc back to the team