Barcelona remain adamant that Cesc Fabregas will be returning to his boyhood club this summer, despite Wenger and the Arsenal board stating that the club’s captain is not for sale at any price this summer.
Wenger has refused to negotiate with the Primera Division champion’s over the sale of his talisman, and last week, the Gunners defiantly rejected an official £29 million bid from Barcelona.
However, the Spanish giants are still hopeful in capturing the Spaniard this summer, and the Catalan's have stated that they will be back with an improved offer in due time.
Wenger seems assured that the 23-year-old will be playing his football at the Emirates next season, and the Frenchman’s stubbornness maybe key in keeping his star player. So, with Wenger continuing to be an immovable figure in this transfer battle and is unwilling to falter to the Catalan’s demands, should Peter Hill-Wood and co. show the same level of obstinacy in ensuring success?
Hill-Wood and Wenger have not even discussed, nor agreed on fee for the potential sale of Cesc Fabregas this summer. As far as they are concerned the club shall and will not even venture into a negotiation war. In fact, the Arsenal board have clearly stated that they will be doing everything in their power to keep the Spaniard at the club for the start of next season’s campaign.
Wenger has a good, steady relationship with Hill-Wood and the pair have in most cases seen eye-to-eye. Both have stated earlier on in this Fabregas chronicle that they didn’t know if the club could hang on to the Spaniards services, due to his enthusiasm to depart from the Emirates when the window re-opens in July. Wenger has tried on a number of occasions to talk the Spanish international out of a move, although it seems the midfielder has his heart set on a return to Spain.
Peter Hill-Wood stated (in late May) that even he didn’t know the future of the club’s talisman. However, he did tell Wenger that the money recouped from Fabregas’s possible departure would be added to the Frenchman’s transfer kitty this summer…a sign of early defeat? Maybe.
However, Wenger has remained resolute throughout, and it seems to have rubbed off on the club’s chairman in recent weeks. It now seems that the two men are on the same page with this transfer battle, with both of them preparing to stand strong and avoid entering negotiations with Barcelona at all costs this summer.
This saga will no doubt continue throughout the summer, but the Arsenal chairman has reiterated the club’s intentions over keeping Fabregas as an Arsenal player. After rejecting the first formal bid from Barca (on the 2nd of June), Hill-Wood issued the following statement a day later in the Daily Star:
“We have been consistent in stating that Cesc is not for sale. We rejected Barcelona’s bid and would rather they did not make another one.”
Arsenal football club appears to be holding their ground for the time being, and remain fixed on not selling Fabregas. They will need to continue this up until the closure of the summer window. Wenger and Hill-Wood will need to ensure that their position does not change. More importantly they will have to make sure that neither one of them falter under the mass pressure that is expected to be coming their way this summer. Arsenal have cracked before under the force of Barcelona when they captured Thierry Henry in 2007 and Alexander Hleb in 2008. The club have also let go of other high-profile players in the past, the likes of Patrick Vieira, Nicolas Anelka and Ashley Cole are to name just a few.
The North London club now face the same scenario with Cesc Fabregas this summer, and Arsenal seem determined to fight off the Spanish club this summer. However, will they be able to withstand countless bids from the Catalan’s? Or will they eventually give-in like they have done in the past? We will have to wait and see.
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