By Ashish Magotra Almost no one was surprised to see Cesc Faberegas leave Arsenal and join Barcelona; mainly because the transfer saga had gone on for so long that it was starting to edge into soap opera territory. At some point, you expected it to happen.
But like a soap opera, just before something important was about to be said, Arsenal and Barcelona would take a break and leave us hanging. This went on for a long time and which is why, when it finally happened, most of us just said, ‘Thank God, it’s over,’ yawned, and moved on.
Now, we can get on with life. And with the English Premiership in full swing, Febregas should soon be forgotten. But at Arsenal that seems unlikely because past great are only forgotten when the current lot performs consistently and wins games. The Gunners, the current lot, will face a struggle doing that.
Barcelona's Fabregas kisses the Barcelona emblem on his jersey during his presentation at Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona. Reuters.
The Arsenal management wasn’t even able to extract the right price for Fabregas, a fact that was acknowledged by manager Arsene Wenger. Vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu said Barca paid 29 million euros (25.19 million pounds) for the 24-year-old and that five million more would be payable if the side won two La Liga titles and one Champions League with him in the squad. To put things into perspective that’s lesser than what Manchester City paid for Sergei Aguero.
They still have talent but they don’t have the men to bring that talent together as a cohesive unit; as a unit that can strike fear into the opposition. Fabregas is gone, Nasri is on his way out and for perhaps the first time in years, there is talk that Arsene Wenger will be on his way out as well… all going out, nothing of any real quality coming in.
They’d like to believe that a new era is beginning at Arsenal but the truth of the matter is that the prospects aren’t very good. Manchester United have got stronger in the off-season, as have Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham. Arsenal, on the other hand, has regressed.
Beautiful football, without sense or purpose, can also be useless football and expect Arsenal to play a lot of that this season. They don’t have the right men to pull the strings.
Arsenal, right now, isn’t a team that wins trophies. It is a team that pick players young, recognises their talent, polishes them and then watches them conveniently make their way to greener pastures. One of the main reasons for that happening is that you cannot be recognised as a big club unless you win trophies.
Arsenal hasn’t won anything recently and looks unlikely to break that drought anytime soon. So why would any world class talent want to make his way to the Emirates Stadium? Why?
Wenger’s got almost 30m Euros more at his disposal and he needs midfield reinforcements fast. Most Arsenal fans would like to see some decisive action now – big deals and quality players. Wenger has been admired for his ability to get young, talented players but right now, he needs to spend all the money he has at his disposal.
This isn’t time to rebuild; there isn’t enough time for that. This is the time to go out there and make your presence felt. Do it now or be prepared to settle into the second rung of the Premiership. The other clubs are ambitious and if Arsenal don’t show that same quality, they will be left behind.