Cesc Fabregas Situation Calls for Action from Arsenal

There's only one place to start this morning, and that's with the comments made by outgoing Barcelona president Joan Laporta regarding the proposed transfer of Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona. Just in case you're not familiar with them by now, here's what he is quoted as saying:

"Arsenal will end up giving in, but I don't know when that will be.

"We will have to wait and let the professionals who are taking care of it do their work."

He then goes on to talk about Sandro Rossell and the administration that will be taking over from Laporta next month, saying, "If it's not us, it will be up to the new board if they consider it appropriate to carry on along this road."

Now, I know it's not a good thing to let this sort of thing wind you up. It's the sort of thing that Barcelona have been saying all summer, and you have to develop a bit of a thick skin as an Arsenal fan because otherwise you just end up unhealthily annoyed every time Barcelona open their mouths.

However, there comes a point where enough has to be enough. I can understand Arsenal's position —the club don't want to be drawn into a public slanging match, they don't want to be drawn into commenting on speculation —and that's commendable. But there has to come a point where Arsenal as a club stands up for itself.

They refused Barcelona's only official bid so far for Cesc and attached a strongly worded statement to that refusal, but since then Barcelona have continued to try to play the situation out in the public arena.

Though, if I were feeling particularly cynical I might say that this latest comment from Laporta is partly designed to make it more difficult for his replacement and rival Sandro Rossell to accomplish what he could not. In the process, they've displayed a complete lack of class as well as a profound disrespect for the rules which govern player transfers.

Perhaps they are encouraged by the precedent set when FIFA refused to sanction Real Madrid for the same behaviour during their pursuit of Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo.

Football's world governing body showed that they are willing to turn a blind eye to certain clubs breaking the rules, no matter how blatant or publicly their transgressions are. That is an absolute disgrace and proof that corruption in football reaches the very highest levels.

Barcelona believe they have free license to do whatever they want without the threat of sanction for it. Arsenal should challenge that belief. Report them to FIFA, and if FIFA won't act, then there must surely be some sort of legal recourse.

Clubs and players have used Courts of Arbitration to contest decisions in the past. I must admit I'm no expert on the laws surrounding such matters, but surely Arsenal could legally challenge a decision not to punish Barcelona for their actions.

I'm sure in the event that Arsenal did go down that route, Barcelona would try to play the innocent accused. "What? Us? No No! We'd never disrespect another club, or tap up a player under contract! It's all the media doing the talking not us!" And quite frankly, if you believe that, you'll believe anything.

Yes, the media are stoking the fires, but they got the fuel for that fire from Barcelona.

The media have their part to answer for as well. If a foreign team treated Barcelona or Real Madrid in the way that those two behave toward other clubs, the Spanish press would scream bloody murder.

They would demand justice and write about the disgrace of a club cheating to try to gain an advantage in the transfer market. What do the English press do? They act like they are the beck and call of the Spanish clubs, because they love a story about things falling down.

They love a "Manchester United in ruins!" headline, or an "Arsenal in crisis!" story.

They dutifully repeat everything the Spanish clubs want them to in an effort to shift a few more papers. The Spanish league is taking more and more of the Premier League's best players and the English media are complicit in that.

As you can tell, I've let the Barcelona stuff get to me a bit this morning and I think it's probably best that we move on swiftly. Lorient coach Christian Gourcuff thinks Laurent Koscielny will be on his way to Arsenal, saying, "Laurent will leave. If Arsenal really want him, they will pay the right fee."

Fair enough. Lorient don't have to sell if they don't want to, so why should they settle for less than their valuation of Koscielny? We can't have it both ways after all, we can't on the one hand stand firm on Cesc and refuse to be bullied if we then go and try to bully other clubs.

By the sounds of things though, we've been fair and straightforward with Lorient, approaching them with formal offers rather than constant talk in the press. We seem to be very serious about this signing, so hopefully we'll see it go through in the near future.

We're also linked with Locomotiv Moscow defender Renat Yanabev , who could replace Gael Clichy if he were to go to Barcelona or Real Madrid. Quite honestly, I think that's unlikely. In the event Clichy left (which I'm far from convinced there's a chance of) the only replacement I see for him is Kieran Gibbs.

The Mirror speculates that we might move for Riccardo Montolivo of Fiorentina if Cesc leaves. He doesn't strike me as an ideal replacement, I must say. Even The Mirror notes that his reputation is primarily one of solid defensive play, and at a reported £19 million asking price he doesn't seem too likely a signing for us.

Finally for today, young striker Luke Freeman looks set to join Yeovil Town on loan. You may remember we signed him from Gillingham a few years ago after he appeared for their first team at the age of 15. I thought we might have seen something of him in the Carling Cup by now. I'm sure first team football will be good for him anyway. 

Right then, much to do, back tomorrow.