On Fabregas

Article by Kingsley Okiwelu

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There has been a lot of talk over the past few days, regarding the possibility of Cesc Fabregas making a return to Arsenal this summer. Excited as I am about the prospect, I have refrained from making any contributions one way or the other for the simple reason that I regarded the likelihood of Fabregas returning after having spent only two seasons with Barcelona to be rather far-fetched.

Why did I think Fabregas was unlikely to make a return? Well, considering that he has long been touted as the heir apparent to Xavi in the Barca midfield, it seemed rather improbable that Barca would let him go without having an immediate ready replacement at hand to replace Xavi. Secondly, it seemed to me that it would amount to a huge loss of face, if Fabregas, long regarded as “the one who got away” from the famous La Masia stables were suddenly let go after barely two seasons.

A couple of events in the last few days however, have made me reconsider. One of these is the hiring of Luis Enrique to replace Tarta Martino as the Barcelona Manager and his subsequent comments regarding the possible sale of Fabregas and other Barcelona players like Alexis Sanchez. Of course it’s dangerous to read too much meaning into a few sentences in response to questions fired at him at what was his first interview as the coach of Barcelona, but it was interesting that he failed to rule out the possibility of selling the former Arsenal player when the question was directly put to him. He didn’t categorically say that he was for sale either but I have to admit that I found his noncommittal response rather intriguing.

The other thing that got me thinking was the recollection that this was Barcelona, the team with the famous La Masia academy that has plenty of form when it comes to promoting from within and giving talented youngsters a chance. Even though Enrique gave the now customary disclaimers and warned people against making hasty comparisons with Pep Guardiola, his comments to the effect that players from the B-team would also be giving consideration immediately hinted at a possible return to the template so brilliantly executed under Guardiola which led to the integration of the likes of Messi, Busquets and Pique in the Barcelona first team. In other words, it’s quite possible that Enrique may be willing to jump over Fabregas and may see another La Masia graduate( I’m thinking Sergi Roberto), as a better proponent of the club’s famous Tiki Taka.

If the forgoing sequence of events should come to pass ( and I admit I’m engaging in some pretty wild speculation here), it’s becomes quite feasible to see the return of Fabregas to Arsenal as a distinct possibility. Which raises the question, do we really need him, considering the plethora of midfield options already available to Wenger. The answer to that question has to be no, but Wenger has certainly not been hampered by anything as mundane as necessity in making past purchases. It’s my humble opinion that the problem of having to fit in Fabregas into our midfield will be a nice one to have and we can cross the bridge when we get there. Besides if the Ozil purchase last season taught us anything, it’s that securing the signature of a huge talent can bring psychological benefits that hugely outweigh the individual on the pitch contributions of the player directly involved.

That and the supplementary side-effect that we would also be denying Manchester United from getting their clutches on another of our former prized assets should mean that getting this deal done is an absolute no brainer!

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