Fabregas and Barcelona Love Affair

The Arsenal Captain, the midfield maestro, the heart beat of Arsenal could be heading to his boyhood club FC Barcelona very soon. By now every human with a half decent brain must have realized the transfer madness surrounding Fabregas, Arsenal and Barcelona.

Fabregas and Viera: Taking his place

As a 16 year old kid, Cesc was bought by Wenger to North London to replace the irreplaceable – Patrick Viera. Due to the legal system in Spain, Barcelona could not stop Arsenal from taking this midfield genius for a small amount of money. No one could have foreseen how this young lad would turn into one of world’s finest midfielders of the current generation.

Scoring his first goal in Arsenal colors against Wolves, Fabregas became the youngest player to score for Arsenal in a first team game at an age of 16 years and 212 days.

He rose to world standards in 2005-06 season when he met former Arsenal captain Viera in the Champions league knockout phase against Juventus. Running the midfield with ease against established stars like Cameronesi and Viera, Cesc managed to grab a goal and provide an assist to show the world that Wenger was right in trusting the youngster.

From then on, he has grown steadily as a player, as an individual and has cemented his place as one of Arsenal greats in the hearts of many Gooners. In 2007-08, Fabregas was voted as PFA young player of year after a marvelous season. Playing along side Hleb, Flamini and Rosicky, we witnessed his goal scoring ability and dictatorship in the midfield. Calm and composed like a veteran, gifted with quick feet and incomparable vision, Cesc rose to new heights becoming an example for all young players around the world. Later that year, he went further ahead by winning the Euro with Spain.

Fabregas and Arsenal: Unbreakable bond!

He was awarded the Captainship in the 2009 after Gallas’s public outburst against his teammates. He took on the responsibility at such a young age and was flourishing as a brilliant player under the guidance of Wenger. The only thing missing and the most important thing was trophies, which deluded him and Arsenal since 2005.

2009-10 season started with a high for Arsenal and Fabregas, they produced entertaining football for few months till injuries hit them hard. Fabregas however had a tremendous season, scoring 19 goals and providing 15 assists in just 37 games. Unfortunately, the inspiring captain had to miss the final sprint of the season due to injury. Ironically, the last game he played was against Barcelona in the Champions league quarters. He provided a sensational performance; scoring the equalizer and playing with pain till the end to make sure his team did not lose.

Till Henry left, Arsenal fans had to suffer the torture of never ending rumors and links from the media about how Henry will be leaving Arsenal and joining Barcelona. This eventually happened in 2007, after the first season at Emirates. Since then, it has been Fabregas who is linked to Barcelona year after year.

Fabregas walking away!

This summer, the transfer of Fabregas has picked up more pace than ever, with reports stating that Cesc has demanded a move to Barcelona. Year after year, we Arsenal fans sit with fear hoping to see our best players for a year or two more. This year however it looks like it’s beyond our prayers and it all depends on Wenger and the Board.

Wenger has sold many stars before, Henry, Viera, Pires, Overmars, Petit and was more than right in doing so. But selling Cesc might not turn out in the same way. He is just 23 years old and I believe we have still not seen the best of him. Selling him at this stage will forever label Arsenal as a selling club and doubts about their Big Club status will re-emerge. Arsenal have been in transition for the last 4 years, and finally this squad with just a bit of defensive addition looks to be the one Wenger was aiming for, but Fabregas leaving will leave this side in transition once again.

Wenger has built this team around Fabregas giving him the advanced role to cast his spells in more threatening positions. He gave him a solid defensive midfielder in Song, an athletic midfielder in Diaby (could still work on defensive duties) to play with in midfield. Wenger also put road runners in the form of Theo and Eboue on one side with few technically gifted players like Arshavin, Nasri and Rosicky in the mix. To cap it all off, Fabregas has the falsest no.9 in Robin Van Persie who plays in front of him creating goals for the Captain and others. Now after all this rebuilding and new 4-3-3 formation, losing the captain, the Star of this Solar System will leave Wenger with a hard job to re- organize the team once again.

We all know Cesc is going to end up in Barcelona at some point in his career. But if Wenger can convince Fabregas to stay for just 2 more years, I feel that we can finally come out of the transition cycle and become a dominant force for years to come. With likes of Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Nacer Barazite and group coming up, we can afford to part with our Barcelona bound Captain in couple of years, but definitely not now.