Cesc Fabregas: ready to leave Arsenal behind? Pic via Sky Sports.
I don't know about you, but I'm starting to think this whole Fabregas to Barcelona saga is getting ridiculous. Barcelona appear to be standing firm at their insultingly lowball offer of £30 million; it looks as if, at the moment, the Catalan side can't afford to sign him, unless Arsenal buckles in negotiation.
So, as this situation is bound to get more preposterous and infuriating in time, this is as good an opportunity as any to review the summer saga as it has occurred so far, with this blood-boiling timeline:
May 13: Cesc Fabregas hints that he wants the situation to be taken care of before the start of the World Cup, but says that he is in no rush to leave Arsenal and is happy with the club.
May 18: Reports of an emotional meeting between Fabregas and Arsene Wenger state that the captain made it clear that he wants to move back to his boyhood club.
May 19: Barcelona states that Arsenal will have the final say over any move, since Fabregas remains under contract. In spite of this, the club remained confident that the transfer would be complete by the end of the week. On the same day, Barca completed their £34.2 million purchase of striker David Villa.
May 20: If you didn't hate Barcelona already by this point, on the 20th, they suggested that Fabregas should publicly declare his desire to leave Arsenal. The Daily Mail at this point claims that Arsenal's price tag is in the vicinity of £80 million, not 40 as widely reported.
May 21: Arsenal prepares to fight to keep Fabregas in North London, and state that they have not yet set a price on the skipper. Chairman Peter Hill-Wood is said to have told Barcelona that Fabregas is not for sale. Arsenal also completes their signing of Marouane Chamakh.
May 22: Hill-Wood remains critical of Barcelona's tactics and backs up his statements from the day prior that Fabregas is not going to be sold.
May 25: Barcelona confirms that they have not yet made an offer for Fabregas. They say there has been "first contacts," but no official offers. Cesc's father tells the Spanish media that he expects the process to be long-winded but ultimately ending with Cesc leaving Arsenal.
May 26: After a very long conversation between Cesc Fabregas and Arsene Wenger, Cesc is told that the situation lies in Arsenal's hands now.
May 31: Barcelona president Joan Laporta states that they are still working on a deal, despite facing difficult negotiations from Arsenal.
No comments:
Post a Comment