Filed under: Football
Will Cesc Fabregas be a regular starter at Barcelona or will he have to bide his time on the bench? It doesn't really matter now does it? The moment he leaves Arsenal he need merely be remembered as a very good player in a team that was almost but not quite very good itself.Arsenal know they must look to the future and to do that they must safeguard the present. And it seems that Samir Nasri will now get the contract he wanted all along anyway, with the Gunners willing to use Barca's cash, whenever it actually arrives, to make him their highest-paid player with a deal that might well work out at £115,000-a-week, which is actually less than Manchester City were willing to pay but enough to make him Arsenal's highest ever earner.
And once that is done then the Gunners will do the same with Robin van Persie, whose contract extands beyond next season to 2014, in the hope a new era can be forged around them both. It makes sense and although it pushing the boat out considerably by Arsenal's wage-paying standards, will allow Arsene Wenger to have another go a defying the odds with his youth policy. After all, the Frenchman is never going to be persuaded to do it any other way.
And so, as Barca midfielder Xavi complains he didn't really mean to upset Wenger when he declared that Fabregas was "suffering" every moment he was prevented from returning to the Nou Camp, Arsenal are inevitably closing in on a teenage talent.
Not Joel Campbell of Costa Rica it seems as the 19-year-old forward and his dad, despite a £900,000 fee having been agreed with his club, Saprissa, appear to have plumped for a move elsewhere, most probably to Italy with Fiorentina.
"It is a disappointment for football, for Saprissa and for me that they have decided not to take up an offer from as serious and first-class people as Arsenal," the club's president Juan Carlos Rojas told La Nacion newspaper in his homeland.
"I hope it works out for Joel. I assume his father thinks that things will get better and that's why he made this decision, but, hey, there's always a risk. It's a shame that Costa Rican football could not have a player at Arsenal at this time."
Southampton's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who at 17 is nevertheless rated at £8 million rising to £12 million should he elumate ex-Saint Theo Walcott, is very keen to transport himself to the Emirates Stadium as quickly as possible however.
"I've heard Arsenal are in for me and to join a top-four club is what I hope for," he told the Sun. "When the bus comes along, you have to jump on it and make the most of your opportunities. It's not every day you get a chance like that. I believe in my own ability and that I have what it takes to play in the Premier League."
Saints' woeful finances a few seasons ago forced them to accept a cut-price, cash up front compromise over Walcott when he began to look like he would trigger all the extra clauses through his exploits on the pitch but the Chanpionship side are in more robust health off the pitch these days.
Nevertheless, the teenager expects them to cash in. "I've had a chat with the manager, Nigel Adkins, about my situation and expressed my feelings to him," he added. "I talked about how I wanted to be playing in the Premier League as quickly as possible and he has been really understanding.
"I've been at Southampton since I was seven and enjoyed every minute of it. They've brought me up in a really good way. The fans and the manager have been great and the club have made me what I am today.
"But I feel it's time for the next step. The way I see it, the Premier League is where I aspire to play. You aren't at the top of the game until you get there.
"I could spend a year in the Championship and, though this might sound negative, I could get injured and that opportunity might be lost. The next year another young star could come through and the opening might not come around again."
Sounds just what Arsenal fans have been waiting to hear. Unlike Xavi talking about talking about Cesc Fabregas of course...
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