Yesterday Cesc arrived in Spain for a promotional launch. There was pressure on him from Barcelona to say he wanted to leave Arsenal and join the Spanish champions.
This would make life easier for Barcelona who could use this to drive down the transfer price and get a better deal for a player we all know they want to sign. And I think we all know that if Arsenal were to agree to sell Cesc there then he’d like to go. It’s his home-town club, we know his connection to it, he has friends who play there, his family live there etc etc. And there’s the small matter of them winning things. A lot of things, which is a factor:
I am ambitious. Any player who says he is not frustrated at not winning titles is lying.
Or not ambitious enough. There is frustration at Arsenal, right now. The team has potential, potential enough to beat Barcelona, Chelsea and United. But it has flaws too, and if we’re banging our heads off walls at seeing the same failings and same mistakes being made time and again, then it’s impossible to think some of the players, the ones who really do want to win things and not coast through their careers, don’t feel the same way.
When asked about his situation this summer he showed the club and the manager full respect by refusing to add to the speculation:
I owe myself to Arsenal. I have not spoken to the manager – he is the boss, he takes decisions and I don’t know if they want to sell me or not. Not everything depends on the player.
I have values and after all that I have lived in eight years I am not going to say a word that would ruin everything. I have always acted with discretion. I am very happy at Arsenal.
And you can’t really say fairer than that, especially when other players have failed to show the same level of responsibility this summer. It leaves everything pretty much where it was before but he’s absolutely right when he says not everything depends on the player. In fact, it all depends on the clubs. My feeling, if I were in Cesc’s position, would be that if Barcelona really wanted to sign me they would do what they had to do and that means spending the money.
They have to make an offer that Arsenal, weighing up all the various factors, cannot refuse. It’s that simple, and so far they haven’t even come close. And Cesc knows that even if he were to go public with a desire to join Barcelona Arsenal still need that offer which, if it were not forthcoming, would put him in a very difficult position. His comments yesterday essentially tell Barcelona that if they want him they have to do it properly, no tactics, no campaign, no undermining relationships.
The other thing to note is that when he says he’s happy at Arsenal he’s not lying. He might be frustrated at not winning things but it’s not just personal frustration. He’s been at the club since he was 16 and while the connection he has with us can’t be the same as the one with Barcelona, for many reasons, that’s doesn’t mean it’s not real. He wants the team to win first and foremost. And if Barcelona don’t or won’t do the right business this summer then staying with us won’t be some chore he has to go through.
The latest from Spain is that apparently Barcelona tried to call Arsene Wenger but were told he was ‘on holidays with his wife’ and ‘this wasn’t the right time’ to discuss the future of Cesc. Maybe it’s just me but I can imagine Arsene sitting there with a piece of paper, scribbling furiously on it to tell Ivan Gazidis what to say. All in all, the basic situation hasn’t changed one bit. Cesc is going off on holidays and the ball remains as firmly lodged in Barcelona’s court as ever. Let’s see what happens.
In other news The Mirror links us with a ‘sensational’ swoop for Sp*rs poxy-little midgety twat-faced thundercunted shithouse gimp-featured donkeywanking pukebox of a spasticated bucket of enema bits, Jermaine Defoe. Sensational in that it would be sensationally bad. The Silvestre of forward signings, except about a million worse due to Defoe’s previous associations and the fact he’s just a horrid little scummer. I’m pretty sure there’s nothing to this story but I just worry that if we can sign Sylvester then we can sign anyone. I would hope our ambitions are a lot more ambitious than this though.
Also in The Mirror, we’re winning the race with Man City to sign Gary Cahill, apparently. Expect us to sign Samba any day so.
In terms of players going out there’s Carlos Vela being linked with Turkish side Galatasaray while Nicklas Bendtner’s father has confirmed that Arsenal have received bids from Sporting Lisbon and Dortmund for his son. Two reasonable options for Bendnter, in fairness, and you’d have to think Germany would be the most attractive.
I also like how Vela is a second option for the Turks after Jose Antonio Reyes. I’m just not sure I can envisage La Familia living life in Turkey. Vela it is then!
Finally for today, the iPhone app has been updated (after the previous updated which had a small problem) so that should solve any problems people are having. It’s kind of amazing the amount of emails I got from people to tell me there was a problem with the app and did they know any possible way they might be able to read Arseblog.
“There’s a website? I never thought of that!”
Anyway, the update is there in the app store ahead of a substantial upgrade coming next month which will add all kinds of new features. And for more details on available mobile apps click here. And for those with Blackberry, yes, we’re trying to get something done before Blackberry goes the way of the Walkie-Talkie.
Right, that’s that. Have a good one.
