If I was a professional footabller and joined Athletico Madrid as a 16 year old, stayed there for 7 years with the team being built around me yet Arsenal who were winning everything in sight came calling then what do you think I would say?

It is getting almost impossible to ignore all these Cesc stories. I turn one way and it is in front of me, I hide behind a tree and there stands Guillem Balague alongside me, smirking away. I hit him in the face, real hard and his grinning smug face is stuck to my hand, I peel it off and it is now stuck on the other hand. What am I to do?

I tell you what I am going to do, I am going to face it head on.

Barcelona want Cesc Fabregas, so what?

Cesc would like to go to Barcelona one day, so what?

Yes I have gone through the hysterical phase of ‘oh god, the world is set to cave in, our best player is going’

But I have now come to my senses a little more now. Firstly, the only person that has said that Cesc is heading to Barcelona is that of Catalan based journo Balague. Every Tom, Dick and Sally (make it a little more original) is using his comments as fact. Apparently Cesc flew back for an emotional face to face meeting. How did they know this? Was there a emotional meeting thermometer stuck on the wall, linked up to an internet connection that sends these journalists these results? Now there is an invention! (takes notes for dragons den)

Apparently Arsene Wenger is not even in the country but I cannot confirm that either way.

So we are going on what a Spanish based hack has had to say. But let us say that it is true, Cesc would like to join his buddies at Barcelona. That is not at all impossible. Can I understand why he would want to leave? But of course. Forget Arsenal’s lack of trophies for a moment, he was brought up at Barcelona, his family are Catalans and they play some wonderful football, it is a hot place. Of course the temptation is there to go back to his home country.

If I was a professional footballer and joined Athletico Madrid as a 16 year old, stayed there for 7 years with the team being built around me yet Arsenal who were winning everything in sight came calling then what do you think I would say?

But the reason why I set aside trophies is because last season a certain Cristinao Ronaldo left Manchester United who were not lacking trophies to join Real Madrid. It was his dream, not because he was unhappy at his previous club.

If Cesc is to leave Arsenal then it has to be on our terms. He is our player, tied down to a four year contract and we (Arsenal) do not have to sell. We are not Manchester United or Liverpool, in mountains of debt that we cannot afford to pay, we are being run very well, but should the player want to leave then we should request the amount of money that we think he is worth and not what Barcelona want to pay (unless that is more than we value him obviously)

They are about to spend £30 million plus on a 28/29 year old David Villa after spending quite ridiculous sums on last years flop forward, so they quite clearly have more money than sense.

There is one thing that we have to remember, regardless of the outcome. As the anti Wenger mob would say, this is not Arsene FC and that is correct, neither is this Cesc FC. We are the Arsenal and players will come and go. Can we find another Spanish midfielder who can play a through ball the way that Cesc can? or have the awareness of the players around him? Maybe not but Chelsea did not have Cesc last season, Bayern Munich didn’t have Cesc last season, Inter Milan did not play with Cesc in their team and even Barcelona did not have Fabregas amongst their ranks yet they all won their respective divisions.

‘IF’ Cesc leaves us this summer or any other then we will build the team another way. Wenger may find a powerful dribbler who will take over from Cesc, Wenger may bring in two who will give us what and perhaps more than Cesc gave us. This is not to say that I want Cesc to leave. Of course I want him to stay and for Arsene to continue to build with him but if he is sold then it is not the end of the world as we know it.

But as I said, we are getting ahead of ourselves. For all we know this could be the Cesc to Barca bullshit that we expected to hear over these summer months but this time they have done a convincing job of it this time round.

I am not going to be carrying a spare pair of boxer shorts, we now have money for players as the property debts have been cleared, if we sell anymore players then we will have even more funds available. The only issue I have with rejigging the squad is the transition period the team may need.

There is little much else going on, so I shall leave it there for now.

Back soon.

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