Arsenal Transfer News: Cesc Fabregas Downs Arsene Wenger with Move to Barcelona

Arsene Wenger has finally done it; he has caved to the incessant pressure of selling his club's best player.

After months, years really, captain Cesc Fabregas has finally secured a move back to his boyhood club, Barcelona, much to the chagrin of the Arsenal faithful.

A disappointing scoreless draw with Newcastle on Saturday to open the campaign was bad, but this weekend has quickly become a nightmare.

Or not.

The Fabregas situation was so ugly, so long and so drawn out that fans were clamoring for a simple resolution rather than more speculation. This club, which has been held up by the valuation of Fabregas, has been unable to identify a suitable replacement, and Wenger hasn't done himself many favors so far this summer because he was adamant on keeping the Spanish midfielder.

According to Arsenal's website, Wenger finally gave in and had this to say about situation (via Mirror Football):

"

We have been clear that we didn't want Cesc to leave, and that remains the case. However, we understand Cesc's desire to move to his hometown club and have now accepted an offer from Barcelona. We thank Cesc for his contribution at Arsenal and wish him future success.

"

Success is something he will certainly find with the world's most dominant squad, but the same cannot be said for his now former club.

The Gunners still don't have a resolution on the Samir Nasri situation, and while they made good moves for Gervinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, it is not nearly enough to keep this team afloat.

Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool all go better this summer; the same cannot be said for Arsenal.

Wenger's defiance now puts the pressure solely on him to right this ship, or go down sinking with it.

Arsenal is set to finish the month of August with matches against Udinese in a UEFA Champions League playoff and league matches with Liverpool and Manchester United.

It is time to move on; a new era in North London needs to begin. As to who will be part of this new era, well, we'll just have to wait and see what Wenger decides.