Arsenal: How Much is Club Captain Cesc Fabregas Truly Worth?

Cesc Fabregas’ Arsenal future has been a perennial topic of debate and speculation for the past few years. The club captain, despite his ominous form on the pitch, has become a persistent hindrance for the Gunners during the offseason. With many Arsenal fans now resigned to losing their talismanic captain, a recent statement by Barcelona is bound to come as an unwelcome shock.

Sandro Rosell, president of the Catalonian giants, has declared that Barcelona will not offer more than £35 million for their former youth player. Rosell has been consistent with his valuation of Fabregas, stating before he was even appointed president that he would be unwilling to spend big money on the central midfielder.

Arsene Wenger has fought hard and displayed great resilience in his bid to hold onto Arsenal’s most valuable asset. It is ironic that despite Fabregas’ consistent form Arsenal look set to miss out on the big money that former Barcelona president Joan Laporte was prepared to spend on Fabregas.

With such heated debate clouding the market value of Fabregas, how much should the World Cup winner truly be worth?

To Arsenal he is invaluable. In 25 Premier League appearances Fabregas contributed three goals and 14 assists to Arsenal’s cause—one fewer than Didier Drogba and four fewer than Nani. Drogba made 11 more league appearances than Fabregas and Nani played eight more times. These figures show that Fabregas is an integral cog in the Arsenal machine and confirm that he deserves to be ranked as one of the best players in the Premier League.

With Fabregas on the pitch, 37 percent of Arsenal’s goals were either scored or created by him.

Fabregas is the best midfielder in the Arsenal squad. However, if he were to join Barcelona, he would be just another player. With Xavi and Iniesta occupying the central midfield, Barcelona do not need Fabregas as much as Arsenal do.

Naturally, Fabregas is less valuable to Barcelona than he is to Arsenal. In many ways Rosell has laid down the gauntlet and told Arsenal, “It’s £35 million, take it or leave it,” safe in the knowledge that Fabregas will eventually play in a Barcelona shirt.

In order to accurately gage Fabregas’ market value one must look at recent transactions in the transfer market. Chelsea’s £50 million capture of Fernando Torres could set the bench mark. Is Fabregas as valuable to Arsenal as Torres was to Liverpool?

Fernando Torres’ form has been held subject to a bombardment of criticism since he joined Chelsea but before his transfer he had enjoyed three great seasons at Anfield, and a mediocre half season. The £50 million transfer was reasonable given the success he has had.

Francesc Fabregas is a far more influential player for Arsenal than Torres was to Liverpool; instead it would be more fair to compare the Gunners’ captain’s role to that of Steven Gerrard’s. 

At the end of the 2004-2005 season Liverpool rejected a £32 million approach from Chelsea for Steven Gerrard. This offer almost mirrors the package that Sandro Rosell is prepared to offer Arsenal for Fabregas; however, one must remember that the market has rocketed in the past six seasons. The emergence of Manchester City combined with a new era of Galacticos at Real Madrid and recent big spending of Chelsea has made the transfer market much more lucrative.

Arsenal could turn to the rumour mill, linking Luka Modric with to Chelsea in a move that could be approximately £25 million. Tottenham have rejected an offer in this region which shows that Modric is worth more than £25 million.

Luka Modric’s statistics this season are far inferior to Fabregas’. Throughout the course of the season, the Croatian has only managed three goals and three assists. Despite Modric’s obvious quality the figures show that Fabregas is a better player thus making him more valuable.

If £25 million is not enough to prize Modric from White Hart Lane, then £40 million should be the absolute minimum that Arsenal accept for their captain. This combined with the fact he is club captain and has several years remaining on his contract would mean that his value can reasonably increase to at least £45 million.

It would therefore seem that the £35 million that Barcelona is prepared to offer Arsenal for Fabregas is not sufficient. That being said the Catalonians are masters of getting what they want, a fervent example being the £22 million they reportedly paid for Javier Mascherano, some £3 million short of Liverpool’s reported valuation.

Parallels can be drawn between the Mascherano saga and the one Arsenal is currently battling with Fabregas. Like Fabregas, Mascherano wanted to leave his team for Barcelona, like Fabregas Barcelona’s valuation fell of Mascherano fell short of the player's club and like Fabregas, Mascherano was disillusioned by his clubs lack of success.

This does not bode well for Arsenal. It is clear that Fabregas wants to leave and it is clear that Barcelona is not prepared to match Wenger’s valuation. With Fabregas’ contract getting shorter by the year sooner or later Wenger will have to accept Barcelona’s demands and lose his team’s biggest asset.

One tool that Wenger could have in his artillery is the power of negotiation. It would be logical to accept the £35 million while it is on the table but at the same time demand at least one player from the Barcelona squad. Sergio Busquets would be an ideal player for the Gunners; he is young, tough and no stranger to success. The only downside to his game is his persistent diving and harassment of referees.

Demanding Sergio Busquets could be ambitious but Barcelona does have a broad squad. Young striker Bojan has been linked with a move away from Barcelona, perhaps Wenger could attempt to take advantage of such rumours. Perhaps players such as Afellay, Keita or Jeffren could be tempted to the Emirates by the promise of first team football.  

Alternatively Wenger is a known admirer of young talent. Perhaps a handful of promising Barcelona youth prospects could be thrown in alongside the £35 million. This would be the least satisfying package; Arsenal have plenty of youth, what they need is players who are both experienced and winners.

In business a product is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. Unless a team such as Real Madrid or Manchester City gazumps Barcelona, Arsenal will not get the straight £45 million to 50 million that Fabregas is truly worth.