Has Cesc Fabregas Played His Last Game for Arsenal?

Good morning fellow Gooners, and lovers of the beautiful game. As the offseason progresses it's getting more difficult by the day to write about Arsenal as the worthwhile news has virtually dried up at the moment.

The club site is producing the odd story about players and what they or up to or how the season went for them but it's all drivel, to be honest. Added to that, we have their almost daily "transfer linked" section, which is really starting to get on my nerves now.

How can they reproduce rumors about possible Arsenal targets from other media outlets? The club site is the only place that officially announces new arrivals and departures and for them to engage in conjecture is just not right. I'm not saying I don't reproduce rumors here, but this is a blog of opinion from a fan and not a web site of fact from the club. I think that's acceptable.

My blog started with the above two paragraphs this morning until I was rudely interrupted and had to wait until my lunch hour to finish it. By that time we had heard from our captain Cesc on the rumors linking him to Barcelona. 

He said that he has great respect for the manager, the club, and the fans. He said that the love he feels from the fans and club is so intense that he doesn't even feel it in his house at times. He had a long conversation with the boss and it was probably the greatest conversation he ever had with someone in his life.

He said he respects the boss so much and he doesn't want to say too much about the conversation but the boss told him to concentrate on the World Cup and leave it in his hands and the boss will deal with whatever happens with regards to his future.

He said that he's doing that and concentrating on his football and it's not up to him any more but it's up to Arsenal and whoever it has to be. He doesn't want to say anything else as he wants to focus on the World Cup and the rest is the future which he is not interested in.

When asked by the reporter if he could make any guarantees about his future he said that he had said all he would say and he would say no more.

Here's Cesc's interview.

It's hard to know what to make of what he has said, but it does sound to me like he has asked to join Barcelona and the boss has told him to leave it with him. Maybe there's a price we're willing to accept or maybe Cesc is willing to reassess after the World Cup if we have signed the right players.

It doesn't sound too hopeful to me and it's the words "it's up to Arsenal and whoever it has to be" that make it sound like he does want to leave. If that is the case I hope that he is man enough to put in a formal transfer request and realize that he will only be sold when we get an offer that meets our valuation.

I sincerely hope that I have misinterpreted what he said, but right now things don't look too good and it might explain why the boss look so worried in the photos with Chamakh. I can't see him wanting to join anyone but Barcelona but it would be interesting if another offer was made for him as it might force Barcelona to raise their valuation of him.

What happens if Barcelona won't match another offer? Will Cesc be prepared to join Real Madrid or Chelsea or Man City if they come up with a bigger offer? I doubt that he will and maybe that's what might keep him at Arsenal. 

One ray of hope for me is the wise words of Robert Pires, who says we won't let Cesc leave and he won't kick up a fuss about it.

I hope he's right because even though the club will of course go on if he leaves it will still be very hard for us to continue to compete at the very top without our best player. Other players have been sold in the past but few if any of them at an age of 23 like Cesc where they are already a magnificent player and their best is yet to come. 

In other news, Mark Schwarzer is linked today and Yaya Toure looks like he might be joining Chelsea. We never wanted him as part of any deal to take Cesc to Barcelona anyway and the boss has had loads of opportunities to sign him in the past but has never done it. I'm going to leave it there for today as I try to digest the news about Cesc along with my lunch.

Here's  a bit of the man I desperately want to stay but I don't think things are in our favor at the moment.