Gunnerblog

Cesc: Pray Arsene can make Nothing out of Something

144 comments May 19th, 2010

For much of the summer, we have to put up with the media making something out of nothing: a trudging walk off after the final whistle of the season, an off-hand comment, or a holiday snap in shorts that match the colour of a rival team – these are all cause for every kind of rumour and speculation.  This time, however, they have something.  Something real.  And we have to hope that Arsene Wenger can pull another trick out of his fabled hack, and turn it back in to nothing.

The Cesc stories that were all over the web yesterday have been bubbling under the surface for a couple of days now.  Usually a Fabregas transfer link is swiftly followed by a press release on Arsenal.com reaffirming the captain’s commitment to the cause.  Yesterday all they could offer was some business about Theo Walcott and a World Cup.  If a denial crops up over the next 24 hours, by all means point fingers at me and call me reactionary.  I’ll be delighted to be wrong.

An Arsenal spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Mail that Cesc met with Arsene yesterday, reportedly after undergoing fitness tests on his right fibula.  Why he’d need to do that with the Arsenal medical team rather than the Spanish national setup is open to discussion.

Even if Cesc has decided he wants to leave, his departure is not yet a done deal.  He’s still under contract, and Arsene may be able to persuade him to remain at the club for another season, as with Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry before him.  However, Arsene may have learnt from the lesson of the poor seasons that those two legends delivered in response to his plea.  Once a player has made up his mind to go, he’s never quite the same.

Three years ago, Arsene said:

“When we decided to build the stadium, I wanted to anticipate the possibility of financial restrictions, so I concentrated on youth. I felt the best way to get players integrated into our culture, with our beliefs, our values, was to get them as young as possible and to develop them together. I felt it would be an interesting experiment to see players grow together with these qualities and with a love for the club. It was an idealistic vision of the world of football.”

It was idealistic, Arsene.  But not realistic.