If we can only keep one, keep Cesc
109 comments July 12th, 2011
If you haven’t already done so, I urge you to read the this transcript of Arsene’s lastest press conference from the Far East, in which he talks extensively about the futures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.
Despite speculation that Nasri’s representatives have agreed a £185,000 p/week wage packet with Man City, Arsene is very bullish about his prospects of keeping his fellow Frenchman:
He definitely stays, come what may?
He stays.So if a club comes in with a big offer, knowing that he’s in the final year of his contract, you will say, “You’re staying…”
I’ve just told you that we are in a position where we can say “No”.And you will, in the case of Samir?
We will.You think that it is worth more to have Samir for one more season and risk losing him on a Bosman free next summer than to cash in now?
Yes.
That’s pretty definitive. It would be a major backtrack to turn around and sell Nasri now.
What’s staggering is how this compares with his quotes on his captain and talisman, Cesc Fabregas. Despite the fact that we’re in a far more secure contractual position with Cesc, Arsene seems very uncertain about where the player’s future lies:
Why are you so confident that Cesc Fábregas will stay?
I am confident because I hope he will see that there will be no greater achievement for him in his life than to lead this team to success and that it will not be the right period for him to leave the club.In one breath, you say “confident” but in the next, you say “hope”. There seem to be a few grey areas …
I think Cesc has always been torn between his love for Arsenal that I feel is really genuine and, as well and what you can understand, the desire to play for the biggest team, at the moment, in the world. I think both exist in his head.He is under contract until 2015 so, technically, he cannot force his way out?
No, but you can only be in if you are completely in. He is the leader of the team. He has to be completely focused and convinced that he wants to stay.
Why is it that Cesc “can only be in if [he is] completely in”, but Arsene is willing to keep Nasri even if the player intends to walk away on a free? There is no logical basis to that statement.
Keeping Nasri when we run the risk of losing him for nothing, and turning down £20m+ from Man City in the process, would be lunacy. If we’re strong enough financially to take that hit, then we’re strong enough to resist any interest in Cesc from Barcelona. Tell Rossell where he can stick his Euros, and cash in on Nasri while you still can. Cesc’s value won’t depreciate between now and next summer, or even the summer beyond.
I can only explain Arsene’s comments in two possible ways. The first is that he has privately accepted that Cesc will depart in the coming weeks, and has subsequently reached the decision that losing Nasri in the same summer would be too great a blow for his team to survive. He could also use the £40m or so profit on Cesc to justify losing £13m on Nasri.
The alternative theory is even more disconcerting. It’s possible that Arsene’s comment are a very public challenge to the board and owner Stan Kroenke, who would obviously rather get some return on Nasri while they still can. Last night, Arsene said:
“The message that we give out is important. For example, you see about Fábregas leaving, Nasri leaving … if you give that message out, you cannot pretend you are a big club. Because a big club, first of all, holds on to its big players and gives a message out to all the other big clubs that they cannot come in and take away from you.”
It’s easy to see his point. But a big club holds on to its players by tying up contract negotiations long before they arrive at this tense point. A big club invests in their squad to convince their major players that they will be competing for trophies in the long term. And, I suppose, a big club recognises that no player – not Nasri, not Fabregas – is more valuable than the greater good.
For me, the greater good in this instance would include keeping Cesc. If his move to Barca doesn’t happen, he’ll still be the league’s best midfielder, and he’ll still give his all. Barcelona are in his blood, but Arsenal are in his heart.
The greater good, especially in the long-term, probably includes selling Nasri. We could take that £20m and reinvest it in a player who wants to be here. However highly Arsene rates the Frenchman, five years of Juan Mata is worth more than a season of Nasri.
At the moment, it feels like the club are resigned to losing Cesc this summer, and Nasri next – for nothing. In my opinion, that’d be the wrong way to go. Do it the other way round, keep the superior player, and pocket an extra £20m along the way.
The way Arsene handles this situation could define the final part of his Arsenal saga.
