It's a bit like the boy who cried wolf, the rumour mongers and gossip lovers will often turn out to get it right every now and again, however when one looks at their overall accuracy and hit rate one should appreciate it is a bit like striking oil by drilling at random, the Cesc rumours circulating at the moment are part of this same old story. Likewise I will sometimes turn out to be wrong when I slag off all the transfer rumours, still I get it right with this approach a hell of a lot more often than the rumour mongers do. Hold tight for the moment.
One thing we know, Barca want Cesc. A second thing we know, Barca are c*nts. Putting one and two together, you can then start to see why the Spanish media is full of rehashed quotes and stories with no decent evidence to back them up. This is the case with the current Cesc story in Marca. It is baseless gossip, there is not even one made up quote, not even one source mentioned. This is most likely something planted to serve the interests of Barca and unsettled the player. Sky and many others have rehashed the same old baseless story, Cesc is 'understood' to have et cetera.
Maybe I'll turn out to look a complete and utter mug when Cesc signs for Barca next week, hopefully not. What is clear is the fact that you can believe nothing you read in the papers these days and I am surprised that so many people continue to be genuinely sucked in by their hot air. The boy who cried wolf was eventually right, still it didn't mean you should have always believed him when he screamed 'Wolf!'
54 comments:
John Cross, a Gooner and a journalist for the Mirror, along with Guillem Balague(another journo who doesn't get much wrong) both say he's off.
It seems like the worst has finally happened
balague said it, he is never wrong. he broke the Henry to Barcelona story first. We all called him a liar and then 2 days later he was paraded by barcelona
yup, john cross is very close to arsenla and he confirmed it, but he said it could get messy as well, which mean that arsenal will hold out for a good price thankfully, we should be getting £45million for him as opposed to the derisory £30million quoted.
You are misinformed. The reason these rumours are being taken more seriously is because they come from Guillem Ballague who said he had lunch with Cesc - who told him directly he's leaving. Ballague has spoken of this rumour before but he has NEVER come out directly and declared for certain that Cesc is definitely leaving. Furthermore, John Cross (a gooner, from the Mirror) who has excellent contacts and speaks to AW frequently has confirmed the story. Been monitoring twitter all day and for the first time, I am taking this story seriously. Certain bloggers I respect have confirmed it. (not sensationalist idiots like le grove).
I love you :)
If he wants to leave then Good luck and thank you to him. He has been Great but great players came before him and great ones will come after. However, I have now listened to Guillem Balague on sky sports news and the revista programme and not once did he mentioned he had spoked to Fabregas about this. He wasn't in the meeting so how the hell does he know what was said. I normally saythere is no smoke without fire and that may be the case here but I don't get how Balague can just say he knows this without proof. And £30-35 mil is wouldn't buy his piss.
arsenal should have put this to bed 6 ths ago by going public with a price of 60mill stating that barca shouldnt bother tapping up fabregas unless they have 60mill to buy him, cash,upfront, but instead now it will be the old ohhhhh we couldnt keepan unhappy head turned player and had to give him away for 30mill spreadover 35 years
Marcus how is Le Grove a bunch of sensationalist idiots? Where is the glory hunting on that site? They have their point of view which sounds like it's different to yours and that's all there is too it. Now goal.com that is a sensationalist site,
John Cross has not confirmed the story at all, he's just said that it seems cesc is off, and that's an assumption made because of all the stories.
Balague gets alot of things wrong, as well as breaking things. The Cesc story was not "broken" by him, it's in his rumours section of his website, and it's untrue, seeing as Wenger isn't even in the country.
Cesc may leave, but the stories today are largely just hacks jumping on rumours, and filling in alot of meat on non existant bones
Hi John and others,
Fair enough, I will turn out to be wrong then, maybe it's just part of me so badly wants it not to happen.
Anyway Barca will have a ridiculous array of attacking midfielders, so many that they will not be able to keep them all happy:
Iniesta, Xavi, Pedro, Messi.
How can Xavi, Cesc, Iniesta and Messi possibly play in the same eleven?
As you say hopefully we'll hold out for a big fee if that's the case.
Matt,
Sorry for keeping your hopes up, fingers crossed though, it's not over til the fat lady...
So, basically the one true 'winner' we have in our team has told his 'father figure' manager that he doesn't have any faith in him anymore.
Wenger is on a crusade, our captain wants to win. This is much much worse that Vieira or Henry. This is the main man in Wenger's project saying enough is enough.
You deserve better Cesc, good luck.
If this is not true why have arsenal or fabregas not came out and denied it. The rumours are very very strong and no smoke without fire.
But I admire your way of thinking.
Denied what exactly?
It's only today that the story has come out that Cesc wants to leave.
Arsenal have nothing to deny, if there were rumours that a deal had been done, or offer accepted, then there would be, but currently the rumours are that barca want cesc, and cesc has decided that he wants to go to barca.
Absolutely nothing to do with the club, and nothing they could deny!
we all new it was going to happen, if we didnt sell ade AND KOLO last summer we would have sold him then,
if wenger spends the money we get for him, then we will be be better off, ive never been cesc biggest fan, prob the slowest and unfittest top player in the prem, but he can pass better than anyone, il miss him but not like henry bergkamp and viera, smshing kid but def replacable
it's only fu*k*ng football, get a life you blog BS time wasting low lifes.
If it happens, I hope that there is some sort of a deal that keeps it under wraps for a period of time, so that we can do our business without the price of other players going up...
Agree with the comment about Wenger's centrepiece of project youth leaving - it is a statement in itself. I can only hope that he is adequately replaced - or perhaps we will be going back to 4-4-2
How many weeks ago was Cesc saying he wanted to kill off all of the Barca rumours and happy at the club for his immediate future ? I hope that he remembers this and how it would look if he does a turnaround now. I still reckon he won't go this summer but there will probably be an understanding that he can go next year or the year after. By then Ramsey and Wishere should be ready to take over, and the impact much reduced.
Unless and Until there is no Official word on Arsenal.com..I'm not gonna buy that..or may be I don't wanna buy that..
Balague is a muppet and the only transfer he got right was the henry to barcelona one but everybody that season he was more likely to leave knowing that he wanted to achieve more in his career and that he knew arsenal werent going to win anymore things. John cross again said he had an source however whiether this source is true i beg to differ i think its all transfer nonsense.
If cesc goes he goes if he stays he stays theirs no point no saying hes going to go based on what journalists view on it.
More often than not Balague is full of shit!
Seem to recall he 'broke' the exact same story last summer too!
And I'll never forget the summer a few years back, when he brazenly declared that Patrick Vieira would be joined by Paul Robinson in joining Real Madrid within 48 hours.
Bullshit then, Bullshit now I think!
All the media stories are based on an apparent meeting (which hasn't happened as the two people are in seperate countries) and selected quotes given over the past 3 years. Balagues interview was in January where Cesc spoke about his admiration and fondness of London and Arsenal, so to grab attention he twists almost everything said and then puts words in the poor boys mouth. Rather than everyone telling him he's an idiot, they all believe it based on zero facts whatsoever. Neither Wenger or Cesc have spoken on this issue and until either of them does I am not going to believe a load of reader hunting rubbish.
Barcelona are 'c***s' you say ? I am an Arsenal fan for twenty years but unlike the idiot that wrote this blog I am well aware that Arsenal are not premiership championship and they are certainly not good enough to win the Champions League - we have one good player who has the misfortune of being lumbered with a group of players who are barely worthy of making Barcelona's B team and we have a manager whose soul purpose of being at Arsenal is to show how good he is at saving money by unearthing gems - trouble is most of those gems turn out to be just pebbles. I applaud Cesc for recognising the fact he will achieve nothing at Arsenal and it is time to leave to win trophies. If he goes you will see Wengers ambition and it will answer all the questions it's just a shame that you are nit going to like it.
good luck Cesc. I too would rather play with Xavi and Messi and win trophies instead of Denilson and Diaby and win fuck all.
Agreed, Wenger has no hunger for success anymore. It's all about his project - it's Monaco all over again
EXCLUSIVE BREAKING NEWS: According to a friend of Lionel Messi he has been doing some soul searching recently and is flying in for what can only be described as an 'emotional' meeting tomorrow to see Pep Guardiola and tell him that he wants to move to Accrington Stanley, where his full potential can finally be realised.
Messi, aged 23, previously stated "I am very happy at Barcelona and I am in no rush to leave, but if I do then I will go to Accrington Stanley". It is understood that Messi has an addiction to Pukka Pies and has been unable to satisfy his insatiable appetite whilst living in Catalunia.
The shattering news for Barcelona supporters follows a claim by Accrington Stanley's vice-president that Messi had expressed the same view to them. John Jeffries told the Lancashire radio station Guff FM that he remained confident that deals for Real Madrid's Kaka and Messi were both on: “Negotiations are progressing well, especially in the case of Kaka.
Accrington are now expected to table a £12 million bid for the player who Barcelona signed for nothing in 1998. However, the Spanish club are likely to demand more than £14.5m for a player who is regarded at the club as irreplaceable and one of the finest attackers in the world.
best of luck cesc you are right to doppy wenger has sold ,flamini,adebeyor,hleb,toure,without any replacement,also henry,viera and cashly again without proper replacement we have an injury prone strike force,and the worst goalkeeping line up in europe, why on earth would our golden boy even consider staying it would take chelsea and man citys wealth to build a team around him because for so long we have ambled along with many mediocre players,oh but he has a wonderfull stadium to play in.
good luck cesc go forth and fill your medal cabinet, because if you stay with us all you will have is dust
good luck Fabregas
Arsenal have no chance at any trophies (as manchester united, manchester city, chelsea and spurs all buy big money players as we stand around and pay the fat cats ont he board) again so you should indeed chase your dream.
You are a Barcelona fan and they are winning everything.
Your idol is the manager so good luck.
why do all the hard work and create things from nothing then pass to walcott only for him to slip while missing.
your better off with world class talent like messi and xavi.
passing to bendnter just doesn't cut it.
Don't go Cesc!!
It's annoying how arsenal can develop the best players and then when they leave they don't seem to be as good. Let's just hope Wenger can persuade him to stay and see out his contract!
I think we have to remember Cesc is still young, unlike Hnery when he moved, so can afford to stay for a few years to see Arsenes vision though. Then in a few years if that hasn't happened he will still be in his prime and can go. Make sense? No?
To quote Anonymous "good luck Cesc. I too would rather play with Xavi and Messi and win trophies instead of Denilson and Diaby and win fuck all.". Personally i'd rather play for Arsenal having supported them all of my life. To that extent i can understand Cesc's desire to play for a team he has supported all of his life. That doesn't mean he is not still under contract at Arsenal.
If we bid for a player who wants to join us but the player's club don't accept the fee, then the player stays with them. Why are we different? Why can't we be ruthless?
If Barca want Cesc, slap a 50 million price tag on him and tell them the ball is in their court. Tell Cesc we are prepared to sell him to Barca if they pay the fee, and he wants to go, but that we can't be more reasonable than that. We can't afford to let a prize asset go cheaply (£30m) and why the hell should we anyway.
Other teams do this all the time. He's a pro. If Barca don't stump up the cash, he can just get on with it until next summer when this will all happen again. Simples.
This is, of course, assuming any of this stuff in the media is true.
Talk about predictable.....every summer either Real or Barsa come along after our best players. Begs the question of why we have to suffer their elections for president, where candidates can mouth off and invent deals they have done and lie through their teeth just to obtain votes. Why are Real and Barcelona not forced to be S.A. (Sociedad Anonima) like every other Spanish club, and not have this absurd circus every time a new president is elected? As always in Spain, rules for everyone else (anything happens and an example is made), except if Real or Barsa or their fans are the culprits......in which case either new rules are made or it gets fogotten. Not a level playing field.
boo
listen, while i'll agree that the media are cunts and this is probably made up but would any free-thinking arsenal fan blame cesc if he wanted to jump ship now. of course not, wenger has pushed cesc too far and he has insulted our intelligence too often. something must give, we are at the end game for wenger and cesc. if cesc goes then wenger should follow because it will be the final statement of no confiedence in wenger's impossiable dream.
let me put it upfront... we have seen the mighty henry get stuck at braca after year.. anybody including ibrahimovich,Gudijohnson and Helb has been there and touched the trophies... but never became the best... I am sure cesc being spanish has advantage, but with xavi in fro 2 years and Iniesta for next 8 years, cesc is a better 40 min runner from the bench...
Might as well get 40 - 50 mill pounds + toure and get him of the system, and spend wisely....
No player is greater than a club and we stand for it...If he is sold for 45 mill quid, I see the schrewdness of wenger in transfers..
Adeboyer 25mill came for 4 mill
Toure 15mill came for 5 mill
Helb 12 mill came for 4-5 mill
Henry after playing so much went for 20mill all in pounds..
good job.. If anybody is itching to go.. get the heck off him this week....If they can shine in a space wehere they have been given accountability and space to grow,.. these are not leaders just petty followers...
I think if we do sell him, and it's anything less than 60 million, something is seriously wrong with the running of the club. He's 23, our captain and star player and he has 4 years on his contract. We can't do the boy any favours here if he wants to leave, this is business.
No confirmation from Barcelona, let alone from Arsenal, or from Wenger, or from Fabregas. Until then, get off the ledge, turn off the gas, and save the noose for Wayne Rooney when he dives against the U.S. on June 12 and gets sent off, costing England top of the group and sending them into a match with Germany and first round defeat.
Fabregas is staying. If I'm wrong, I would lose nothing but face for a few days. If I'm right, I want all of you to apologize -- not to me, but to each other for scaring each other so much, and to Cesc for doubting his loyalty.
If this is true, Arsenal need to be ruthless. Fab is still under contract, and one of the highest paid player in Arsenal. Get Barcashit to pay 70 - 80 Million if they really want him. If Barcashit can't afford that, then Arsenal just keep him. Sure, if this is true then he'll be unhappy. Let him rot in the reserves if he's feel that way. He's not bigger than the club. Unlike Henry or Viera, he won nothing yet.
Well Real has now got Mourinho so can't they start a bidding war for Cesc. It will be very good for arsenal. I love cesc but the only player i ever miss in arsenal shirt is Bergkamp. Time to buy a new jersey with "denilson" on the back lol....
LE Grove is a piece of s***!
F*** all the haters and let's get behind the arsenal.
Well I guess its a good job its called 'Arsenal Football Club' and not 'Fabregas football club'.
For hells sake, ok so he has been outstanding for us but there will always be another. After all when Luke could not be trained, Yoda sent for leia!
'Well I guess its a good job its called 'Arsenal Football Club' and not 'Fabregas football club'.'
Ironic really since many of you think its call Wenger Football Club
It really is pathetic.
CESC WILL BE HERE FOR THE START OF NEXT SEASON.
This is what has happened; Cesc har reiterated that he is happy at Arsenal and in 'no hurry to leave', and, like we all already knew, that he will not leave Arsenal for any other club than Barcelona. That is what has caused this absolute frenzy. And everyone is believing it. It's ridiculous and quite embarrassing really.
Again: THEY ARE ALL LIES. BALAGUE SAYS CESC IS OFF EVERY SEASON AND JOHN CROSS IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST RETARDS IN JOURNALISM - HIS CAREER IS ALL ABOUT LYING AND MAKING UP PLAYER TRANSFER STORIES.
Jesus Christ, it's like noone has ever been through a silly season-summer before.
WOW for a well respected business like Sky they sure didn't jump the gun on this one, saying Fabregas has had talks. Suppose blame must goto the spanish media more as they said Fab went to London to tell Wenger he wants to go when wenger is abroad? Anyway the conversation would have been held in private with no one aware of it so did they tap the room with wires or something? Absolutely ludicrous stuff also lets all remember his LONG TERM contract til 2014. Arsenal respect clubs greatly how about the respect back rather than getting your players to try and tap the player up along with all the presidential election rubbish going on at Barca.
the only hope that cesc will stay is that he realizes he still has many years to perform at the top-level of football. he is not the first-choice starting XI of spain so that should remind him that if he goes to barca, he would spend most of his time on the bench, coming in only when the likes of iniesta or keita were to get injured. he should stay at least another season since wenger will be on his last season too and see how things finally go. if we still fail, he can leave with his head held high knowing that he went all the way to the end with the manager and it would not be too extreme to also see the manager leaving then. 2010-2011 will truly be the make-or-break of this batch of babies wengers taking care of.
Yes, Barca are c*nts.
The way they try to publically unsettle players is a f*cking disgrace.
Anonymous 2043, you are the idiot, kind regards.
WE'VE GOT CESC FABREGAS, WE'VE GOT CESC FABREGAS! Cheer up - WE'VE GOT CESC FABREGAS!
Lot of idiots on this thread.
Every single time stories like this come up in the media, Cesc and the club IMMEDIATELY issue official denials to the media, and on the website. Always.
That has not happened this time.
Their silence is deafening.
As for Ballgue and Cross --
Ballague has NEVER EVER come out and declared with any certainty before a story like this. What he has done in the past is report on what Barca are telling him (that they want Cesc back) and what Cesc tells him in his interviews (how much he loves Barca). Ballague has personally interviewed Cesc MANY MANY times -- unlike the morons here trashing him. What he has done in the past is to SPECULATE about the day Cesc would return to Barca because of his love for the club.
This is the FIRST time he's come out and said firmly and bluntly: Cesc flew on a plane to see Arsene to have a private talk with him and told him he wanted to leave. He had lunch with the player and Cesc told him directly. Cesc knows him personally.
There is lots of footage of Cesc's recent interview in Spain where he says "I want to sort out my future before the world cup" and the only club he would go to would be Barca.
Why did he say that? Why is he talking about "sorting out his future?" Wasn't his future already sorted out with his longterm contract and his recent huge bonus?
Then John Cross -- thru his contacts with the club -- confirmed the story. Cross talks regularly with Arsene, he has done so for many years. Cross is a gooner and loves Arsenal. I enjo listening to his personal stories about Arsene, things he's allowed to tell.
He regularly defends AW, tho he can be critical at times as well. He has a good piece in today's Mirror about all this: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/opinion/columnists/john-cross/Why-it-would-be-a-victory-for-football-if-Arsenal-stand-firm-and-make-Cesc-Fabregas-honour-his-contract-The-John-Cross-Column-article431831.html
Then Spain-based journalist Graham Hunter confirmed the story as well. Hunter is a well informed, good journalist and, again, this is the FIRST time Hunter has ever come out publicly and openly declared that yes, Cesc asked to leave.
I love these ignorant clowns who think ALL JOURNALISTS are all liars, that they just sit at their desks all day long inventing stories out of whole cloth.
Of course there are sensationalist headlines that twist quotes to mean something the speaker never intended - that's deliberate manipulation of a person's words. But those words are there in the first place to be twisted, the journo didn't invent them.
I'm constantly critical about the football press in England and in Spain but that does not mean that just because a journo says something you don't like you can just ALWAYS ALWAYS in every single instance dismiss it as lies. (and of course when they say something you like, you accept it without question).
Ballague wasn't just right about the Henry story, he has a strong track record, as do Cross and Hunter. Every Arsenal blogger with club contacts has also confirmed that--unlike past rumours which were immediately shot down by all parties--there is something to this particular story.
This doesn't mean that Cesc will definitely leave, it means that Cesc has personally expressed his desire to leave. The fact is that Barca are in massive debt, they just ponied up a huge sum for Villa. Arsenal aren't interested in either Toure or Ibra, the only 2 players Barca could realistically offer as part of a deal. Arsenal have a very strong hand here and I'm sure Barca's conduct has hardened them even more.
Of course keeping a player who wants to leave is risky but Cesc does love Arsenal. And AW can be persuasive when he needs to be. I think it probable AW will convince him to stay 1 more season and we'll lose him next summer.
One more thing: journos like Ballague and Cross and Hunter couldn't survive in their jobs if they didn't cultivate good contacts who gave them direct, explicit permission to publicly report something. Ballague has cultivated a direct relationship with Cesc for years, he's conducted several one-on-one personal interviews with him.
Ballague wants to maintain that access to Cesc, it's part of his job. He has no incentive to invent a story about Cesc personally asking to leave the club. Do you really think Cesc would just shrug his shoulders and not be upset if Ballague invented such a lie and splashed it on national TV? Ballague KNOWS he'd alienate Cesc and that he'd risk losing personal access to Cesc.
If Ballague came out so publicly with such a firm report then Cesc gave him permission to do it.
as long as we get a decent price, he should go.
Arsenal will be better off w/o him. Finalize it before the world cup too, before he gets crocked for half of next year.
Pick up Arteta, or whomever, a couple of defenders and another goalie, and lets roll.
rahul
It's official -
http://www.arsenal.com
#29 ???
Has Arsene Wenger's youth policy failed?
have a look at this link
http://www.insideireland.ie/index.cfm/section/news/ext/arsenal001/category/1123
I'm convinced Cesc is off and it scares the hell out of me. Whenever our previous talismen have left, there has always been an obvious candidate to step up to the plate. But I don't see any obvious candidates to replace Cesc...
My sources are convinced a £30 million deal for Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Barcelona to Chelsea is to be wrapped up next week. The negotiations have been happening since last Friday.
Source: A respected news reporter, trust me.
At the end of the day, Fabregas has got to go. It’s damaging to the morale of the club to keep a player who has his heart/head elsewhere. Ramsey and Wilshire will fill in and do the job perfectly. It's always been the case that when our "best" players leave, we see that they're in fact quite replaceable.
Cesc on video confirming the conversation he had with AW, and saying "no" when asked if he can guarantee that he'll be at Arsenal next season:
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11833_6173228,00.html
Not to mention his father's comments no Spanish radio yesterday confirming that Cesc wants to go.
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