Filed under: Football
What will Cesc Fabregas say to his team mates when they meet up on the Arsenal training ground this week to prepare for a campaign nobody believes he will even begin let alone complete? Or Samir Nasri when he turns up? Or Gael Clichy, should he not be sold in the next few hours? Or even Theo Walcott, who has now been linked with a move across London to Chelsea?And what can Arsene Wenger say to them? Mentally, if not physically, at least three of them are gone already. It looks like being mighty awkward, from whichever angle you care to choose.
This time last year, Wenger managed to persuade Fabregas to stay against his will and no doubt the Frenchman will be harbouring hopes of a similar stand-off between Barcelona and the Gunners between now and the closure of the transfer window.
As it stands, Barcelona have yet to make an offer close enough to Arsenal's £40 million valuation, and the situation is further clouded by ill-feeling over the Gunners recruitment of two of the Catalan club's top teenagers, Jon Toral and Hector Bellerin.
Barca are understood to have threatened to report Arsenal to FIFA for signing players they value at £6 million for a tenth of that figure but would drop the charges if the Fabregas fee comes down.
This, of course, offers Wenger the perfect opportunity to keep on stalling and carry on resisting efforts made by both Manchester United and Manchester City to sign Nasri, with the latter already in advanced talks over the purchase of left-back Clichy.
But surely Wenger also knows such tactics would be counter-productive and the longer Fabregas and Nasri hang around the more difficult it will be to persuade top-quality replacements to come to the Emirates Stadium. It may be early in July but Manchester United, the Premier League champions, have already made a series of bold moves in the transfer market and, as it stands, it seems impossible, that Arsenal can offer them a challenge in the next few months.
Worryingly for Arsenal fans, Wenger does not seem to have noticed this. "Everyone is on standby at the moment, keeping their cards close to their chests, and waiting for someone to make the first move," he said. "Everyone wants to make that great signing and I'm focused on those objectives and am very busy on the telephone."
United, he appears not to have noticed, have signed Europe's top young goalkeeper, an England forward and a young centre-back with Premier League experience. Arsenal fans would have welcomed any of David de Gea, Ashley Young or Phil Jones.
Nasri, for his part, has already made it clear his stalling on a new contract is not just about money. "Money has never been my motivation," he told The News of the World. "I have always taken decisions from a football point of view. I don't want to sign for a club where I wouldn't be playing the football that I like, where I wouldn't feel happy, just for the sake of money.
"We already earn huge wages. The priority is to make a big career and to win titles. This is more important than everything else. I know the value and the meaning of money.
"You have to be able to evolve with a new way of living, keeping respect to my values. Family, friends, a good agent, it all helps you not to get carried away.
"With no titles under your belt, you can't be in the list for the Ballon D'Or. I came to England to get trophies because I haven't won anything in my career, apart from an U17 European Championship in 2004."
The uncertainty over Fabregas and Nasri is the reason why Chelsea felt able to make an enquiry for Walcott, who feels he has been under-used by Wenger in the past couple of seasons.
And it does not take a great leap of logic to conclude that Robin van Persie would come into the same category. Wenger must realise he has to act swiftly and decisively if the new season is not to end in disaster. And that means selling Fabregas and Nasri as quickly as possible. Right now Arsenal are seen as a weak club, vainly trying to hold on to their prized assets. Sell and all that will be changed: the Gunners will have cash in their pockets and in a position to compete financially with their Champions League rivals.
A new era will begin, whether Wenger likes it or not, and the sooner the better.
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