Barcelona has officially tabled a bid for former trainee, current Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas - a bid that Arsenal has rejected.
Barcelona, Arsenal, And Fabregas: Rejected Bid First Step In Process That Will Take Cesc Home
On Wednesday, Barcelona confirmed reports that they had make an official offer to Arsenal to regain the Spanish international. Fàbregas, born and raised in Catalonia, has been associated with Barcelona since he was ten years old. Despite having come-up through Barcelona’s youth system, Fàbregas left for London at 16 years old without having played a game for with the Blaugrana. He has been with Arsene Wenger ever since.
In 187 league appearances for the Gunners, Fàbregas has accumulated 32 league goals, 15 of which came this season.
As Fàbregas has become one of the better central midfielders in England, he has been perpetually rumored with a potential move back to Barcelona. With current midfield maestro Xavi Hernández having entered his thirties and perceived heir-apparent Andres Iniesta coming of two injury-plagued seasons, Barcelona has decided to move for Fàbregas.
Reports today cite a £29 million bid for Fàbregas:
Arsenal have revealed they have rejected a formal bid from Barcelona for captain Cesc Fábregas, and have warned the club they “will not enter into any discussion”.
News of the bid, understood to be worth just over £29m, emerged from Barcelona on Wednesday afternoon when director general Joan Oliver announced that “a formal, written, concrete offer” had been made. Oliver claimed: “We have opened a formal process of negotiation with them.”
In response, Arsenal has issued an official statement via the club’s web site confirming the offer was rejected:
”Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas is under contract with the Club until the summer of 2015. He is a highly-valued member of the team and part of our future plans.
”We have followed recent speculation linking Cesc with a move away from the Club but as there has never been any official approach for him, only two informal exchanges, in which we made it abundantly clear that we have no interest in transferring Cesc, we have refrained from publicly passing comment. However, yesterday evening we received an offer from Barcelona for Cesc and in response, we immediately and resolutely told them once again that we have no intention of selling our captain.
“To be clear, we will not make any kind of counterproposal or enter into any discussion. Barcelona have publicly stated that they will respect our position and we expect that they will keep their word.”
Only £29 Million?
The reported bid, £29 million, is a curiously low figure. Converted to Euros, it's about €34.6 million, a figure that may sound sensible when compared to striker David Villa's recent fee: €40 million. There are, however, a number of reasons why the figure for Fàbregas, who may not currently be as good a player as Villa, could still be viewed as low.
The Short Fuse: Arsenal Politely Turn Down Barcelona Offer
SB Nation Arsenal FC blog The Short Fuse offered its own thoughts on the Fàbregas news:
It is strange, or, well, not strange at all, really, that neither FIFA nor UEFA have done a thing to stop Barcelona's front office, their players, or their press organs from constantly spreading destabilizing remarks around. There seems to be a fair amount of resignation in the Arsenal blogosphere about Fábregas' inevitable move to Barcelona happening sooner rather than later, but in truth, there was very little to back any speculation up, aside from reports that he had told Arsène Wenger that he wanted to leave.
There is a large age difference between the two players. David Villa is 28 (turning 29 in December).Fàbregas just turned 23. One player is at (or toward the end of) his prime footballing age. The other player is still in his ascendancy, as evidenced by last season’s dramatic increase in goals scored.
Villa is coming from a cash-strapped club who may not have needed to redefine the market in selling their best asset. Conversely, Fàbregas is on an Arsenal club which posted a £32.5 million profit last season despite reducing the club’s debt (incurred through financing the Emirates Stadium) by £129 million. Arsenal has little incentive to sell Fàbregas at market rate.
For the Fàbregas transfer, better comparisons than Villa may be the big-money transfers from last season. Kaká - more accomplished than Fàbregas, but 27 at the time of his transfer - moved for £68.5 million. Cristiano Ronaldo is incomparable as it concerns transfers, but considering Manchester United's disinclination to sell him, the Portuguese's €94 million pricetag is noteworthy. Both of those were Real Madrid singings, but if you want a Barcelona example, last year's acquisition of Zlatan Ibrahimovic (from an Internazionale team that did not need to sell) cost the Catalans €46 million plus Samuel Eto'o.
Fàbregas might not be at a Ronaldo, Kaka, former-Ibrahimovic-level, but his proximity to that level combined with his age means his sale price is likely to be closer to Kaká‘s than David Villas. Barcelona is a smart club, a club that’s willing to pay for the likes of Ibrahimovic and Villa, so it seems naive to assume they thought Arsenal would accept a £29 million bid. Thus, we are left searching for other explanations for the low offer, and without a Malkovich tunnel into Barcelona president Joan LaPorta’s head, we are left to speculate.
And that speculation leads to my best Jim Garrison impression:
Consider a scenario where Barcelona knows they are unlikely to get Fabregas this summer, yet they want to foster a process that lands Cesc at Camp Nou next season. In a World Cup year, when his Spain duties will see Fabregas spend two months with the heart of Barcelona’s team, the higher-ups at the Nou Camp put the idea back in his head. Come back home, they say, and table a bid to prove their intent.
But knowing Arsenal is not ready to sell, they do not want to overly-muddy the waters. Their offer is modest - one that will not drive up next year’s price. They tell Cesc’s club: they will respect whatever decision Arsenal makes (as if they do not know what that decision will be).
Then, Barcelona adds the final piece: time. Fabregas needs another year in London to think about the possibility of returning home, to have that emerge from the back of his mind with the season’s inevitable losses and disappointments. “I wonder if this would happen at Barcelona,” Fabregas will be forced to ask himself. And while he grapples with this conflict he’ll see his teammates - Xavi, Iniesta, Villa - competing for La Liga and Champions League. The naiveté of distance and memory will pull him back to Catalonia.
Barcelona knows they can’t get Fabregas this year. Arsenal’s not ready to sell, and perhaps Fabregas is not willing to move. Regardless, if Fabregas is to move home next summer, the process has to begin now. With their bid tabled and rejected, all that’s left is the waiting game.
The £29 million bid was low - obviously so - but that may have been the point all along.
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