Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri Transfer Saga: With or Without You

I hate soap operas and any kind of drama that drags on forever unless it's related to football.

Considering the drama that goes on in football throughout the year, no TV soap comes even close to matching it, so why bother watching them?

There are two very interesting football dramas going on at the moment. Read on!

One of them is relatively new, so we can call it a "pilot" or "season one" of the Samir Nasri, Arsenal, and an Unidentified Lover saga.

The other one is the Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal, and Barcelona story.

For starters Barcelona (the club and the city) were the childhood love of Cesc Fabregas.

It's like one of those stories in the movies in which two kids growing up together are meant to end up together, get married, have kids, and live happily ever after (a la Friends, in which Ross and Rachel are meant to be together but one of them just doesn't know it).

But just as it happens in movies and the daily soaps, the young Cesc is tempted by an enchanting temptress in the form of Arsenal, represented by Arsene Wenger.

Cesc moves to London, leaving Barcelona heartbroken.

As he is leaving, the U2 song "With or Without You" is playing in the background, with the audience hoping that Cesc will stay back.

Barcelona (It's not a literal club here, just an imaginary person.) will take a cab to the airport to stop Cesc from leaving, but it will break down halfway there, allowing Cesc to depart.

Just as in popular soaps the story twists and turns.

Cesc, now at Arsenal is happy in the company of greats like Theiry Henry, Patrick Viera, and Dennis Bergkamp, and the club go on to be invincibles, winning just about everything.

The new love blooms and blossoms, and as some of the stalwarts from Arsenal move on, Cesc gets a more central role in the team, becoming the chief love of the club and its fans.

The fans' cries of  "We've got Cesc Fabregas" light up the stands at the Emirates, and Cesc can't stop grinning.

Back in Catalonia, Barcelona, the jilted lover, resolves to get its revenge against Arsenal and hatches a cunning plot.

Here we can depict Barcelona as an evil ex-lover hatching a plot or a genuine and resolute one aiming to win its love back. If this were a book, I would have a explored both angles separately in separate chapters, but here we will do a mix of the two.

Things come to a head when Arsenal and Barcelona meet in the 2006 Champions League semifinal.

The former are winning the game until Barcelona make a stunning comeback to win the game and are crowned champions.

From there Barcelona go on to win the trophy twice again in the next five years and every other trophy possible, while Arsenal win absolutely nothing for six years (unless you count the preseason Emirates Cup as a trophy).

Barcelona start sending out feelers to Cesc, telling him how much they are still in love with him and that they will forgive all his previous doings and take him back if he would have it. On the other hand, Cesc can't stop drooling at the Barca trophy cabinet and the chance of being part of the best club team in the world.

But Arsenal wouldn't let go, and just like any another soap, the saga drags on and on for three years.

Barcelona's and Cesc's mutual admiration gets stronger and more public, while Arsenal and Arsene Wenger fret and frantically try to do everything in their hands to stop Cesc from leaving.

But to no use.

Eventually, Barcelona make their move for Cesc, and Arsenal indicate they are ready to give up their fight.

Just when you think it will all be over soon, there is another twist in the story. Barcelona, although the top club in the world and one of the richest, too, are effectively broke and can't meet Arsenal's demand for compensation.

Barcelona use every tool in their armoury to force Arsenal's hand, including talking to the world media about how Cesc is back in love with them and should be let go.

Even the British and Spanish prime ministers get involved, but the resolute Frenchman Arsene Wenger won't accept a penny less than the compensation he demanded, a la Shylock from the Shakespearean play The Merchant of Venice. (The only difference is that Wenger is not the bad guy in this story and doesn't want to kill the central protagonist.)

Last we heard of it, the saga is still running, and although it looks as though the end day cannot go beyond 31 August when the transfer window closes, as we are with every other soap opera, we might be shocked and surprised.

Or rather, I should say not shocked and surprised if Cesc changes his mind again and decides to stay back at Arsenal. 

Disclaimer: Some of the facts are work of the author's overactive mind and should not be taken literally. The author demands royalty from anyone who uses this story as a movie screenplay.

This article first appeared on www.isport.in