Cesc wants out of Arsenal

Midfielder to meet Wenger to discuss desire to join Barcelona

By Ben Collins   Last updated: 19th May 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Cesc wants out of Arsenal

Fabregas: Wants to leave

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Cesc Fabregas is understood to have told Arsene Wenger he wants to leave Arsenal in order to rejoin Barcelona as president Joan Laporta hints at making a bid.

Writing in Spanish newspaper AS, Guillem Balague has revealed that Fabregas has flown in to London from Barcelona to discuss his future at Emirates Stadium with Wenger.

Fabregas recently revealed that he does want to play for former club Barca one day and is keen for his future to be resolved before representing Spain at the World Cup finals.

It now appears that the midfielder is ready to ask for permission to join the newly-crowned Primera Liga champions next season and a fee is likely to be in the region of £30-35million.

Meanwhile, Barcelona president Laporta has suggested it may be the right time to bid for the 23-year-old following Fabregas' comments at a promotional event last week.

The Arsenal captain, who was plucked from Barca's youth ranks in 2003, had said, 'I think I would like to go to Barcelona, whether or not they want me is another thing'.

Laporta was surprised by Fabregas' frankness and reckons it is worth considering a move for the influential midfielder.

"It is remarkable that the player has said that," he told the club's official website.

"If the technical secretary [Txiki Begiristain] believes we must make an effort, we will do and will talk to Arsenal."

Villa talks

Laporta also confirmed transfer talks were well underway with Valencia over a deal to bring striker David Villa to Camp Nou.

"We are in the negotiating process and everything is going in the right direction," Laporta added.

"We hope it is resolved soon. Everything is on track and hopefully we can reach an agreement."

Comments (166)

Hayley Smythe (Manchester United fan) says...

PLEASE DON GO FABBERS! im not even an arsenal fan particulaly but i love watching them because of fabregas!! would be so crap without him next season :(

Posted 17:53 23rd May 2010

Lebogang Manyama (Arsenal fan) says...

Hi, with Fab wanting to go then we should not stand in his way but rather look on getting some1 to replace him and we should get some1 who can match him or better, some1 like Diego could be the perfect guy.

Posted 15:10 23rd May 2010

Azmi Ahmed says...

Who ever thinks Fabregas will be a bench warmer are absolutely crazy.

Posted 11:32 22nd May 2010

Andreas Nichola says...

I felt this season that Ramsey was kind of being groomed to be Cescs replacement. As Ramsey now has a nasty setback I think Fabregas should stay at least another season until he's back on his feet (no pun intended). Barcelona arent going anywhere and its not as though Cesc is coming to the end of his career so at least one more season to help a team that has offered him so much, is the least he can do. On the subject of possible replacements, I hear alot of fans mentioning Melo and Arteta but what about Gourcuff? Tall, fast, strong and great link up play with our new striker, he should slot nicely into the team. Who knows, with a signing like Gourcuff, a new defender and keeper, combined with Cesc staying another year, we might win something and Cesc would decide to stay a bit longer. At the end of the day all we can do is speculate and hope for whats going to happen and who we want to sign but the outcome cant be influenced by any of us fans so we just have to sit tight and hope the decisions are being made for our team, lets just hope we wont be needing another 5 years of 'transition'

Posted 00:42 22nd May 2010

Stephen Hook (Arsenal fan) says...

If Fabregas is to be sold it would need to be at least 60-80 million so we could buy a few players to make the squad bigger. I think a player like Romas de rossi would be a good player to replace Fabregas

Posted 14:27 20th May 2010

Mo Chowdhury (Arsenal fan) says...

The fact of the matter is that Barca want Cesc, and he wants Barca. But the ball is very much in our court. 30 million is not a true representation of his value, considering he is 23 and has 5 years on his contract. If they are serious, they need to double that amount, considering they paid 40 million for a 28 year old Villa, who only had 2 years of his contract left. I doubt the board will even take notice of anything lower. Therefore, its not up to CESC or BARCA, but up to ARSENAL.

Posted 14:04 20th May 2010

Nick Hadges (Chelsea fan) says...

If Arsenal fans think Fabregas will be on the bench at Barcelona i'll take what your smoking right now. He will be one of the first selected and given Iniesta's ability to play anywhere Im sure it will not be a problem. Arsenal fans are truly delusional

Posted 13:03 20th May 2010

Yazeed Waggie says...

Fabregas is a great player no doubt about it, he works very hard to keep composure,discipline in the team. But i think that Arsenal will prosper,succeed in the future so its all a matter of time.but for 5years without a trophy is bad but there's still hope for the young guns.lets just keep our heads up high and wish him the best if/when he decides to leave.My point to Arsene Wenger is that if Fabregas leaves buy a quality player like Felipe Melo,Mauro Camoranesi. or better idea try and negotiate a swap for Xavi Hernandez and prob 10 million pound offer so that its equal. Lets Go Boys Arsenal Fan forever Viva La Arsenal

Posted 09:54 20th May 2010

Scott Knight (Arsenal fan) says...

This isn't a great sign for next season. But we would easily make top 4 again without him. AND I also agree that we cannot afford to but players of the future again like always. We'll always finish above the spuds every year anyway so all is not so bad.

Posted 03:51 20th May 2010

Sifiso Dlamini says...

very much sure we will miss cesc but for yaya and cash and any other player besides ibra itswould be a burgain. let him go

Posted 23:07 19th May 2010

Chris Martin says...

Why are most people talking as though Cesc has already signed a contract with Barca?! nothing has been done yet, and no official statement from Fabregas himself saying he wants to leave, or from AFC for that matter, has been released! The only info i'll be trusting during the transfer season is what is published on the AFC official site!

Posted 22:50 19th May 2010

D Tee (Arsenal fan) says...

Listen, if Fabregas wants to go, let him. Like some have said, no one leaves Arsenal - especially for Camp Nou, and plays as much or as good. Having said that, I do not want him to go. He pulls a lot of strings being so young. Nasri could not fill the void just yet. We'd need a player like Jamie O'Hara - but even he is not ready yet. Melo and Arteta are too old. To keep him Arsenal need to spend on recruiting a top striker, two more defenders, another midfielder and a keeper. As we are not in debt, let's go and buy us a Championship like Chelsea did!

Posted 21:01 19th May 2010

Dave Thebrave (Arsenal fan) says...

Fabregas will leave and we will miss what he gave the team on his good days. We will not miss the times when he let us down and played in a much more mediochre way when we desperately relied on him to shine. He was not a particularly strong captain, either, and we need another Tony Adams much more than we ever needed Cesc. Arsene should let him go after next season when Cesc can prove he can really achieve something solid and silver and a lasting tribute to his talent!

Posted 18:52 19th May 2010

Darshan Mehta (Arsenal fan) says...

I don't think this is the right time for Cesc to go out of Arsenal. Because he won't get a chance to play in the First ream as long as Xavi and Iniesta are there. He should leave after 2-3 years when Xavi's legs get older. If he wants to leave Arsenal this year then, only ARSENE WENGER can stop him, but he won't do it as far as I know. If Fab goes, we need some quality players in the midfield who can fulfill the void created by him. Everton's Mikel Arteta and Juventus' Philipe Melo can be good substitutes of him.

Posted 12:27 19th May 2010

Curtis Leopold (Arsenal fan) says...

I for one wouldn't blame El maestro Fab if he wants to leave as what can you do when a club of the likes of Barca keeps tabs on you for all those years besides and all that history you have with them? But i have to say i will be one sad Bast*** witnessing this and knowing that Wenger is only going to get one of the midfielders he'll groom for the future...not an midfield general like fab!!! Loosing the EPL's top player in assists is going to set us back seriously and we can only recover if we get a player like van de vaart or sneidjer. Having said that i swear if Arsene doesn't buy top quality players this season especially a top quality keeper i shall stop watching n' supporting arsenal as there will be no reason to if we are not going to be title contenders especially after the loss of fab!!!

Posted 12:27 19th May 2010

Chris Edwards (Tottenham Hotspur fan) says...

Arsenal fans will continue with the illusion that they are still a team to rival Man U or Chelsea. Without Fabregas they wont even rival a mid table team like Liverpool. At least Fabregas might actually win something in Spain.

Posted 12:08 19th May 2010

Paul Mahon (Barcelona fan) says...

Whoever said Barca should leave Cesc alone is full of it. It's a respectable club and even today Barca have said they want to respect the wished of Arsenal. I think maybe if Fabregas didn't mouth of alot about coming back then there'd be no speculation. Who can blame him for wanting to go to the club who noticed his talent and win trophies?! But if it means exchange for Toure, I don't want Fabregas. Toure (along with the defenders) in recent years has been the only good defence Barca have had in many years! To me he plays a bigger part than Fabregas ever would at Barca, and who needs him when we have Iniesta and Xavi!? As well as signing Villa just today! Tell you what, Arsenal can have Ibrahimovic as you guys have no strikers and he's now surplus at Barca. Point made

Posted 12:06 19th May 2010

Simeon Agbaza says...

Hi, I have been an Arsenal fan for 15years and I have seen players come and go. Cesc should only look at Henry, Hleb, Silvinho, Petit, Overmars e.t.c to see that moving to Nou Camp doesn't necessarily mean personal development as a player. Barca would continually rely on their Spanish faithfuls and the super Messi to win laurels. Well if he (Cesc) wants to ride on the wings of the star-studded Barca team and win trophies then I can't blame him, but he would never get to the level he is in Arsenal while playing for Barca. Kind regards, Simeon Agbaza Aberdeen Scotland.

Posted 12:04 19th May 2010

Thomas Johanson says...

As an Arsenal fan,though it pains me to say it, i think Cesc is doing the right thing in leaving. It would be a completely different story if he were to go 2 Real Madrid or City, but he is a Barca native and you can understand that he wants to win trophies. He's being held back by the club which is unfair and the money would go a long way toward strengthening the squad if Arsene chooses to spend it.

Posted 11:52 19th May 2010

Ben Goldrick (Manchester United fan) says...

This ongoing love affair between Fabregas and Barcelona brings back memories of the love Ronaldo had for Real Madrid. This transfer saga is very similar in Real Madrids pursuit of Ronaldo in the summer of 2008 and then Ronaldo expressed his desire to play at the bernabeu one day. However, Fabregas deserves to leave and join the catalans, he is one of the best players in the world and has carried Arsenal for the past few seasons and he is the reason why Arsenal have been in the top four, but i think Arsene Wenger needs to use the funds for the sale of Fabregas if he eventually goes, Wenger needs to find a player the calibre of Fabregas maybe even find a sawp deal somewhere to bring Toure or Keita maybe! It looks as though Villa is leaving for Barcelona which could see the exit of Ibrahimovic so if Arsenal are brave enough they should go for him. I think Arsenal can cope they've got great youngsters, i'm sure that many signings will be made, they have coped in the past when cole, henry, vieira, anelka left and they will do it again. But i expect this transfer saga to go on for a long time to come yet.

Posted 11:36 19th May 2010

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