The news we all knew was coming has now been confirmed – Cesc Fabregas has finally joined Chelsea and he has been given a 5 year deal. Although the exact transfer fee has not been disclosed, it is believed to be around £30 million as no other club went in for him, and that was the amount Barcelona were happy to let him leave for.
You all know how I feel about Cesc. All the AKB’s are going on about our war chest is better spent elsewhere, whereas I believe Arsene has reverted to type and will try and “strengthen” the squad but shopping in the discount section.
A world class midfielder who is at his peak, has vast experience of the Premier League and is full or goals and assists, and we let him slip through our fingers. Lallana is being valued at £28 million, and Juan Mata was £37.5 million – and someone who I firmly believe is half the player Cesc is. Selling Mata and buying Fabregas – and pocketing £7.5 million in the process – is excellent business from Chelsea.
With the World Cup having a big effect on transfers and with signings before the tournament, this is going to be another frustrating transfer window for Arsenal fans. Last summer, most of us were upset at the lack of activity until Mesut Özil arrived.
But make no mistake, that wasn’t planned – Özil was only available because Real Madrid managed to sign Gareth Bale at the 11th hour.
So there we have it. A big signing that would please the Arsenal players and fans has been passed up.
Frustrating summer ahead? Don’t you know it.
so we should have spent 30m on another creative midfielder without pace? and who’s place would he take ozil? cazorla? wilshere? walcott? chamberlain? podolski? and should we just bin gnabry? eisfeld? zelelem?
I could remember vividly that all u stupid writers and stupid legends call keown says we don’t need cesc and wenger with his 2-3 pounds players that he always parade for years with injuries and later trophyless and start given excuses,diaby is there doing nothing wilshere will not fit ox too and old Arteta is ok for the stupid man signing 3 pounds player around with tooth-pick legs…pls give us Viera as a manger that has vision and go not money pact
Think it was much kinder of Wenger to let Chelsea benefit from Cesc’s quality. How thick to strengthen an opposition club.
Hmm now how could Arsenal have afforded to buy such a luxury? Oh hang on I know; could have taken Vela back for £4m and sell on for circa £20m, £16m profit. I’m just guessing here that the £120m+ Arsenal declared in their half year accounts might have been able to cover the other £14m?
Funny that Arsenal didn’t want him, Barcelona didn’t want him. I wonder why? I think there is more to this storey than anybody is saying at the moment, and it turns out that the Barcelona DNA wasn’t very deep was it?
yeah, this one hurts me because I truly loved fabregas as a player. Silly me for thinking he was different. All that effort agitating for the barca move, and I accepted that, but so much for what he said. He has some serious character flaws and I am glad we can all see his true colors now. He and Mourinho deserve each other.
All that yo say is largely true but we do have greater needs elsewhere. Reserve GK, RB, CH, DM, striker. We need to fill these gaps before central midfield where we have something of a surplus. I think had he become available last summer we would have taken him. In the end whether we are happy with the manager’s decisions will depend on which players he buys and how Fabregas works out at Chelsea. I do wonder if he has the discipline for a Mourhinio team.
I am afraid many of you arsenal fans are not sufficiently critical and analytical.
Wenger has lost his touch in the transfer market; once the French market dried up he was at a loss.
We obviously need another midfielder as Wenger signed the the ever so slightly injured Kallstrom (cough), indicating what he was looking for, so you would think that when a world class chap who you know ever so well becomes available that you would burst a gut to sign him?
Let’s wait for the next Sonogo to be announced to keep us all happy, not!
arsene wenger just cuttin of his nose to spite he,s face. it,s his way of getting his own back on fabregas. fuck wenger you cant compensate for world class talent . Mistake in my eyes.
I share your disappointment, I believe we should have signed him. However in the big picture we have some fantastic talent in midfield. Wenger must believe it would upset the balance leaving players out. If we are injury free, Ozil, Ramsey, Cozorla, Wilshere would expect to play. I hope Wenger has some big moves planned for a defender, defensive midfielder and a couple of centre forwards. If these signings are not achieved, many supporters will be extremely upset.
back in early may he was quoted as saying ” people say we need a striker, but i say we need a midfielder and a defender more ” Then turns fabregas down. Just cant make him out. Obviously must of meant a defensive midfielder he needs more. But to not say we need a striker more is just baffling
Once the salary reached 200k everyone knows that means game over for Arsenal.
Winger, please fuck off and die.
And l’d be the first to jump on your grave.
Robin Banks you are fucking wicked asshole who knows fuck all about football!!!!!!!!!
“But make no mistake, that wasn’t planned – Özil was only available because Real Madrid managed to sign Gareth Bale at the 11th hour.”
You serious? Everyone knew Bale was going to Madrid before the season even ended. The Özil deal wasn’t as lastminute.com as you’re pretending.
WE ARSENAL FANS I TELL U IF WENGER IS STILL RETAINING IN ARSENAL THEN NEXT SEASON WE ARE OUT OFF CHAMPION
I am gutted about this. After the euphoria of winning the FA Cup, I really hoped that the Arsenal hierarchy would have used this as a launching pad to re-state Arsenal’s claim to be a club fully focused on competing with the best teams and trying to win the big trophies, rather than the “tighten our belts” approach that they have adopted for the last 9 years. However, I fear it seems that nothing has really changed and we will be rummaging around the bargain basements of Europe for additions to our squad.
I am at a loss as to how much Wenger does not feel that Fabregas would have added so much to our squad. He is proven in the Prem, knows Arsenal and Arsene inside out, and would have given his all for Arsenal for the rest of his career. I don’t begrudge Cesc wanting to move back to his boyhood club as it was his dream. But like most things in life, reality is a lot different to our dreams, and he would have come back to Arsenal a lot wiser and a lot more dedicated. He is also a real leader, and we could do with a few more of these in the side.
I disagree with the “We’ve already got numerous, strong midfielders” argument. If it comes to it, sell one or more of our current midfielders. Fab is better than any one of our current crop, expect maybe Ramsey, but even he has only turned it on for half of one season. If the decision was financial,
Apart from ozil which other midfielder of fabregas talent do we have…world class players are not easily available .We now have more ex-gunners playin’ for the top 5 sides against us…wenger & Gazidis lack ambition.
GIROUD SHOULD BE SOLD
Wenger loves hurtin’ arsenal fans all round,he dosen’t win trophies often,he loves pinch- penny transfers,dithers to the bone marrow…other top clubs are smarter & direct spotin’ & buyin’ quality players these days.
And he loves putting up our season ticket price, whilst not spending on players.
fabricas was more than giroud 100% but wenger is promoting france
I am gutted about this. After the euphoria of winning the FA Cup, I really hoped that the Arsenal hierarchy would have used this as a launching pad to re-state Arsenal’s claim to be a club fully focused on competing with the best teams and trying to win the big trophies, rather than the “tighten our belts” approach that they have adopted for the last 9 years. However, I fear it seems that nothing has really changed and we will be rummaging around the bargain basements of Europe for additions to our squad.
I am at a loss as to how much Wenger does not feel that Fabregas would have added so much to our squad. He is proven in the Prem, knows Arsenal and Arsene inside out, and would have given his all for Arsenal for the rest of his career. I don’t begrudge Cesc wanting to move back to his boyhood club as it was his dream. But like most things in life, reality is a lot different to our dreams, and he would have come back to Arsenal a lot wiser and a lot more dedicated. He is also a real leader, and we could do with a few more of these in the side.
I disagree with the “We’ve already got numerous, strong midfielders” argument. If it comes to it, sell one or more of our current midfielders. Fab is better than any one of our current crop, expect maybe Ramsey, but even he has only turned it on for half of one season. If the decision was financial, why not sell Cazorla, or Ozil, or even Wilshere. Can anyone argue that anyone of these players is better than Cesc? I feel Ozil needs more time to prove himself, but personally, I would have sold Cazorla. I like him, but he didn’t exactly set the world on fire (except for that cracking free kick), but he is not as good as Cesc, and we would have got a lot of money for him. Signing Cesc would have given both the fans and the players such a lift, but again, Arsene shows that he has no problem letting his rivals get stronger at our expense.
I thought that the “Specialist in failure” comment was pretty disrespectful, but would out and out winners like Fergie and Mourinho (even though I hate to call him a winner) allow a number of their best players to go to domestic rivals? Cesc, RVP, Nasri, Cashley, etc. I know I am being slightly harsh with some of those names, but what this trend shows to me is that Wenger is not as driven by on-field success such as the likes of Fergie and Mourinho, and with a complicit Arsenal Board that will back him all the way whilst he continues to line his pocket and theirs with his 4th place trophy, us Arsenal fans will continue to suffer for the foreseeable future.
So you are saying that because other EPL teams were interested in Fabregas, we should have spent a large portion of our budget on a player in our strongest position?
No less, a player that forced his way out of our club.
If we sign a striker for 25+ million then it will become obvious that Wenger has made the right decision.
Who did you want Fabregas to replace?
Ozil? Ramsey? Cazorla? Wilshere? Oxlade?
Fab is better and more proven in the Prem than ALL of the current Arsenal midfielders. Just because Arsenal paid £42m+ for Ozil, can you honestly say he will be better for us than Cesc was? He is far better, and much less injury prone than Wilshere, and is much more versatile player than Cazorla is. So to answer your question, he could replace practically any one of the current Arsenal midfield.
I would take Ozil over Fabregas any day. Sure, he did not have an amazing season but he is a pass-first player who had one target being Giroud. Give him a class striker and I have no doubt he will be amazing, he is also two years younger than Fabregas.
You did not mention Ramsey in your response. If he continues down a similar path and taking age into account, there is no doubt he is more valuable to us than Cesc.
I agree that Cesc is better than Cazorla but not enough to warrant spending this amount of money on him. The jury is hung on Wilshere, I still have belief that given a year relatively injury free that he can live up to some of the ridiculous hype that surrounded him earlier on in his career.
Whether our current midfielders compare to Cesc or not though, surely you agree that his position is also our strongest position? We can sign all the midfielders we want but until we have a quality striker we will not compete for the title.
As well as improving our midfield options and the depth of the squad, it would have provided a massive psychological boost to players and fans alike. I agree we need a striker, but it should not be an either/or decision.
Also, how can clubs like Chelsea do their transfer business very early on (Costa, Cesc, plus who know who else), yet Arsenal drag things out until the last few minutes of the transfer window? To me, it shows a real statement of intent when you go out and do what you feel needs doing, instead of procrastinating, and I am afraid that Wenger has been procrastinating for the last few years.
Josh – Until we have a quality MANAGER we will not compete for the title. The best transfer Arsenal could make is Wenger out of our club.
” In Arsene we rust.”
Would not let me reply further so I’ll do it back in the main section.
I am just not sure of the affect it would have had on the midfielders.
Someone would have to sit for him and having forced his way out, I did not want that. I see where you are coming from though.
I agree that Wenger needs to act quicker during the transfer windows, I am surprised that deals have come so quickly for others though. I would have thought that players would focus on the World Cup and leave their domestic futures until later.
If he manages to sign Jackson Martinez, Lukaku, Bony, or someone of similar quality though, all will be forgiven.
“All will be forgiven” ? Really ? I see you’re easily satisfied then. Wenger gets away with murder, and is never held accountable for his many mistakes and failures. It will take more than a few illusory big name signings to undo the damage he’s caused us over the many years of his reign.
” In Arsene we rust.”
Seriously…. You are a f*** tart!! How many attacking midfielders can you have on the team!! Where was he going to play???
On another point, he chose to head to Barcelona not Wenger…
It’s just tough shit, Cesc spun the wheel and it did not quit work out…. Good luck to him!!
All the best cesc. He might just crock 3 games into the season and play no further for Chelsea . Which means he would have helped arsenal deny 30mil quid in transfer money for Chelsea . That is good news considering how much they can pay for a player
Most Arsenal fans are not been factual with their comment concerning fabregas. We av many midfielders 2 play, d only problem we are facing is DM,RB,winger and striker. Most of you if you are given the position 2 occupy you will not spent 3month before u wil be sent away, so shut your month if you don’t knw what to say
He could have brought Fabregas in to replace Diaby who is a permanent crock – and who is costing the club thousands of pounds A WEEK, just to spend all his time on the treatment table.
This would have made more economic and footballing sense than sticking with Diaby. The reason Wenger does, is because he’s one of his favourites. Wenger puts the interests of individuals ahead of that of the team.
“In Arsene we rust.”
Learn how to write you fucking idiot
Wenger has a nightmare of a record against chelsea & he has strengthen ’em by not re-signin’ cesc…..let him be ready to break more water bottles when fab starts breakin’ his next season for chelski.
Wenger should brace himself up for chelski matches next season because he will be hurt to see cesc destroy his team….our ex players are littered every where,winnin’ trophies & tauntin’ us,now fab has made the list bigger…is a shame!
The Cesc blunder is Wenger’s biggest since he sold Van Persie to United and thereby gifted them the title at our expense.
” In Arsene we rust.”
While I am disappointed that Fabregas will be in a Chelsea shirt next season, I think Arsenal have made the right decision.
Signing a player who forced his way out of the club, and having to replace a player in our young and promising midfield would be a huge middle finger to all the players that actually want to play for us.
This is honestly the last position that we need players for, and people are expecting us to spend such a huge proportion of our budget. We can sign all the midfielders that we want but until we have a world class striker we will not win the league.
Now Arsene needs to back up this decision with the signing of a quality striker. If he does that then we will be a very threatening team next season.
The only teams we’ll threaten next season are the mediocre ones. We always get found out against the big boys.
And while on that point – what’s the head to head league record of Mourinho v Wenger again ? Oh yeah ; ten attempts, and the Specialist in failure has NEVER beaten the Special One.
” In Arsene we rust.”
fabricas wish u well to chelsea fc i pray 4 u 2 win next season.am arsenal fan
Kroenke, Gazidis need to FUCK OFF back to The shitty usa and take that french twat Wenger with them. Thanks for giving the league to chelsea next season….i hope you’re happy!
Go 2 wherever u will we dnt care, u broke our heart b/4 so we dnt need u anymore, u left us whn we need u most 2 hell wit u ces wenger made a gud decision dere are many out dere come on!!
hooray let’s not bother with exec and sign Carlos veal instead what a bunch of muppets
Sorry that should say Fab not exec
Fabregas is superior to Cazorla, Wiillshere, Ozil etc
He can take hold of a game and control it.
…. And leave again when bayern’s Pep come calling. Face the fack,fab forced his way out of Arsenal. Where is his barca DNA now? Not so suprise that its only chelsea that want him
30 mil for fab and they still owe us for Song so it wouldnt have been vastly expensive.
am still discusing with sam who thinks arsenal md is okay but he not seeing injuries
Has everyone gone mad? I love Cesc and was genuinely gutted when he forced his way out of the club, but forget not he FORCED his way out of the emirates to play with his boyhood club and it didn’t work out. We spent years moulding our club around him and he would have been a through arsenal great had he stuck the course. We built our team around him and shunned players like wilshere/ Ramsey etc…. Ozil has now had his first season which some would say was hit and miss but remember he has been German player of the year three times and Per and Koscielny had bad first seasons also!! Ozil also just declared that the two people who stuck by him last season was Joachim Low and Arsene Wenger and wait till he shines next season, world class and sorry Fabergas but your time has cone and gone! Let’s see how Mesuts World Cup ends before everyone gets there hankies out!
Josh you and others list Midfielders that Cesc would replace but none of you mention Arteta , Flamini , Diaby all of whom will feature in our squad next season. The jury on The Ox and Jackie boy is still out as neither is in Cesc’s class yet. It’s a squad game nowadays and if we get into decent cup runs there will be about 60 matches to play . With Cesc you can share them around with everyone getting 40 or so which means less overplaying and less long term injury . Not taking him back and letting Chelsea have him will come back and bite the fans where it hurts . The board , the majority shareholder and the manager won’t mind as long as they get their money spinning entry to next years champions league.
pato hear my wards,fabrigas left arsenal 4 bacelona he de trophies we are ever loosers now is going 2 chelsea he will win premire then what are u talking,see like van,clichy,nasri left us 4 glory
I’ve been reading lots of fans thoughts on Cesc’s move to Chelski from a number of websites and it seems around a 50/50 split on opinions on whether Wenger has made the right call. Time will tell, but at the moment, I can’t help but feeling really down, and feeling yet again let down by the current Arsenal hierarchy where they promise so much around season ticket renewal time, yet constantly fail to deliver in the transfer market season after season.
I really hope that I have to eat some serious humble pie come the 2014/15 season, but somehow I reckon it will be pretty much like it’s been since Dein left, and Kroenke and Gazidis took over.
We just signed the German fitness coach to sort out our injuries! Diaby/Wilshere/ Ramsey/Ozil/ etc…. Walcott will be back from injury who again I think will be phenomenal ,Who will we sign this season ? Remains to be seen but Arsenal is on an upward trend . Imagine if Morato/ Balotelli/Khedira/ or any of the other rumours come off to add to a team that is nearly there and will give us that final push we need not another attacking midfielder who would need the team moulded a rounder him again and probably force out Ramsey ? The reason Barcelona are getting rid of him is the team wouldn’t adapt to his needs????We just ended our trophy drought after 9 years and still there is miserable c-nts!! Where and what will you be doing and saying next season when Fabergas and Mourinho are looking for the Chelsea door? Come on you Gooooners!!!
I’m sorry to say, but it’s fans like you that empower and allow Wenger and the Board to act in a manner where profits are prioritised over success. Your post is filled with “what ifs” and “I hope…”, but the ACTIONS of Wenger and the Board show otherwise. As I stated in an earlier post, would a true winner weaken his team to strengthen his rivals? Would a true winner not try different approaches if he found out his preferred way was not working? Would a true winner ignore a number of massive red flags relating to our injuries, players wanting to leave, etc, etc?
We won the FA Cup, and I am overjoyed at that, but let’s not let this cup win paper over the cracks of frailties of the team. We just about scraped past Wigan and if Hull were more experienced, they would not have let a 2 goal lead slip. We completely capitulated in the league at the business end of the season, and that was down to piss poor management, NOT bad luck. I am not a WENGER OUT fan, but he needs to change his approach and his attitude, as what he has been doing for the last 9 years just aint working.
PL – You bemoan the fact that Wenger needs to ( quote ) “change his approach and his attitude, as what he has been doing for the last 9 years just aint working”. Yet you also state that you’re not a “Wenger Out supporter.” Well if any other manager at any other club failed at his job for nine years, would he still be supported ? What justification therefore, is there for Wenger to still be at our club ? There is none, apart from sentimental reasons.
And that is what the apathetic Arsenal A.K.B.’s and Wenger sympathisers need to wake up to, and demand change. Unless we place intolerable pressure on the board, they will happily continue to prioritise profits ahead of on-field success. This is why they have offered him a new deal. And Wenger knows he’ll never be placed under real and serious scrutiny as long as he keeps the money rolling in for them. Is this how you like your club to be run ? I certainly don’t !
” In Arsene ( and the board ) we rust.”
My anger towards Wenger is about the signing of Fab , although I would sell Ozil in a second to buy Fab.
My main is the perpetual complacency , lack of urgency in getting the players we need. Make no mistake about it , last year , Ozil was a panic buy.
Arsenal fans are to blame for this state of affair ultimately, we have allowed for 9 years what Manure fans would never allow. After Winning the FA cup , our fans were too happy to see Wenger given a 3 years extension. His salary is probably among the 3 football coaches in the world . We are the 6 th biggest revenue generating football club in the world.
We have allowed it to done to us!
Very true, Gunfest. Anyone who is happily complacent at winning ONE trophy in nine years ( ! ) needs to re-evaluate their passion for Arsenal. At any other big club, this pathetic record would not be tolerated. Can you imagine Real Madrid or Bayern Munich for example, renewing THEIR manager’s contract given such a poor return ? Even a club such as Paris St. Germain wouldn’t – which is probably why Wenger didn’t take their offer – why risk the sack there, when at Arsenal you get paid a fortune for delivering top four mediocrity year after year, and your employers – the board – are content with that. Not only content, but HAPPY to give him another three years to keep doing so !!!!
” In Arsene we rust.”
ALL YOU HATERS OUT THERE….LISTEN! LAST YEAR WHEN WE BOUGHT OZIL….ALL OF YOU FELT WE DID NOT REALLY NEED TO STRENGTHEN THE MIDFIELD…AND NOW YOU’RE ANGRY THAT WE DID NOT SIGN CESC??? THAT THERE IS CALLED HYPOCRISY….I HATE THE FACT THAT CESC IS NOW A CHELSEA PLAYER…BUT GOD! IT ISN’T THE END OF THE WORLD…STOP SUPPORTING ARSENAL IF YOU CANNOT BELIEVE IN THE PLAYERS WE HAVE! GO SUPPORT CITY OR PSG OR MADRID OR MUNICH….WHO SIMPLY WAIT FOR GOOD PLAYERS TO EMERGE AND THEN BUY THEM AT RIDICULOUS PRICES THAT OTHERS CANNOT MATCH…..I UNDERSTAND YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT ARSENAL AND WANT TO SEE THEM WIN TROPHIES….BUT FOR FUCKING GOD’S SAKE LEARN TO APPLY A LITTLE BIT OF REASON OR RATIONAL THINKING…..
You should take your own advice, IndianGooner. “Apply a little bit of reason or rational thinking”, and you’d logically come to the conclusion that our club is going nowhere under this board and manager. It’s blindingly obvious. Same shit, different year, or haven’t you noticed ?
” In Arsene we rust.”
I agree that considering we have not signed Cesc….Arsene needs to show the Arsenal fans that he indeed means business and buy the players we need….including/additionally a couple to world class players….I’m not an AKB…..there will be no excuse if we do not sign players in positions we need to strengthen….
End of the day managing a Football club is a business….we’ve been going no where for almost a decade now….but that’s because we had financial constraints….apparently we have the money now…so there is no excuse if we don’t add to the squad….and add world class players….That being said…IMO we didn’t need Cesc….
I completely disagree IndianGooner. Not only would Cesc have given us another midfield option, but would have strengthened our squad, and lifted the morale of everyone associated with Arsenal. We’ve got a good midfield, but you can’t deny that Cesc wouldn’t have made them better. He would have also been totally dedicated to Arsenal for the rest of his career, now that he found out that his “dream move” wasn’t what he thought it would be.
Forget for one second whether we need him or not…what message does this send to Arsenal fans, current players and our rivals? Arsenal are not now only a feeder club for the top teams in Europe, but we are now a feeder club for our Prem rivals.
Cesc will not regular in Chelsea then Mou will sell him. then he go small club.
I never forget that he leaved the club with his hope when we all loved him.
One thing I would say to you arsenal supporters is that you are the most ignorant unread load of twats ever, whose command of the English language is fucking zero.
“…..whose command of the English language is fucking zero….”
…….Says the guy who doesn’t spell Arsenal with a capital “A” !
” In Arsene we rust.”