Arsenal and Barcelona agree deal for Cesc Fabregas

Arsenal and Barcelona have confirmed they have reached an "agreement in principle" over the sale of captain Cesc Fabregas to the Spanish club.

The 24-year-old midfielder is set to return to the club he left as a 16-year-old in 2003.

He will now agree personal terms and undergo a medical on Monday before being unveiled.

"We have been clear that we didn't want Cesc to leave and that remains the case," said manager Arsene Wenger.

"However, we understand Cesc's desire to move to his home town club and have now accepted an offer from Barcelona."

Barcelona have been chasing Fabregas since last summer and it is believed Arsenal will receive a guaranteed £30m with a further £5m dependent on the number of games played and trophies won by the Spaniard during his time at the Nou Camp.

Fabregas trained with his Arsenal team-mates for the final time on Friday morning and was not part of Wenger's squad for Saturday's Premier League opener against Newcastle which finished 0-0.

source: bbc sport

We knew it was going to happen eventually.

Not sure about the price being £40m when Carroll and Torres move for a combined £85m. I'd take Fabregas over both.

its 34m (5m from cesc) with 6m in add ons

If I was Arsenal, I'd be asking for a lot more though. In the current market £34m for Cesc Fabregas is a relative bargain

It's probably a relief for Gunners fans now that this ongoing saga has finally concluded.

Thank god, sick of hearing about it every summer

I would have thought Arsenal could have gotten a better deal than that for Fabregas, I still have very little idea why Cesc wants to go back to Barcelona they clearly weren't expecting much from him or they wouldn't have let him go in the first place and he can't get past the Barcelona midfield to start for the Spanish national team, so I expect him to make less appearances than Mascherano.

I wonder how the money will be reinvested, young players for the future or players ready for the Premier League now?

Arsenal are probably going to save it for when they need to buy Wenger out of his contract at the end of another disappointing season.

You have to remember that Fabregas wants to go, and he won't play at a standard even close to what he is capable of, and Barcelona have admitted that every year they believe he is valued less so they either sell him now or lose him for pennies or nothing when he's older and contract running out.

I'm hoping this kickstarts Wenger into serious manager mode and he sorts out his team. Getting new contracts on the table for Walcott, RVP and Song would be one of my top priorities right now. With players like Arshavin, Wilshere and Ramsey they should be able to carry on finding those passes forward, so maybe a holding midfielder would be another. As much as I admire Gibbs I don't think he's ready to be top left back for a club aiming for the top 4, but I think it would be a good move for him to have until Christmas. Just a centre back and striker from the Fabregas money would be a good deal, and use the Nasri money to bring in a top midfield general.

Unfortunately it's coming up with names that I'm stumped on. Of coruse there's Cahill and Samba always brought up as centre backs, and Jadson is linked as a Nasri replacement, but when it comes to strikers and holding midfielders I can't think of anyone who would be available.

Am I the only one who would find it quite funny if after all this time they couldn't agree on the terms of the contract and the transfer was cancelled? I don't imagine it happening but surely even Barcelona must think there's no point offering a bench player hundreds of thousands.

deal has been confirmed cesc has signed a 5 year deal

Deal is a disgrace - this makes Andy Carroll a more valuable player.

The deal was never conducted in an open market as the player controlled his own future and refused to play for anyone else, as a result Arsenal have been financially penalised.
The language between the 2 clubs may be friendly and courteous but all parties know that Arsenal have been raped.
Whilst every Arsenal fan should recognise Cescs contribution over the last 8 years I can't help thinking that his attitide has dictated his employers decision despite the club making him a multi millionaire, repeatedly stating that the club want to retain him, and the fact he signed a contract extension keeping him at the club until 2015.

I think you can't compare prices these days in football, because there is so much that changes the cost of a player other than just the quality of the footballer.

Andy Carroll was happy at Newcastle, English, young and it was the January transfer window, and we had just sold Torres for £50 million so Newcastle knew we had that kind of money.

Cesc Fabregas wanted to leave, wanted to join Barcelona, Barca have been chasing him for years and they knew they wouldn't stop.

All of those different things mean you just compare the deals, I don't think you can do it anymore in football.

Deal includes a £200m buy out clause.

According to Guillem Balague, Barcelona will announce it was for £29million, with potentially £10m in bonuses.

Derbyblue wrote:Deal includes a £200m buy out clause.

According to Guillem Balague, Barcelona will announce it was for £29million, with potentially £10m in bonuses.

Man City to match it if they have a trophyless season this season

Invincible - of course you're right, I've said before that the price of a footballer is dictated often by the desperation of the buyers hence the inflated market, but the Fabregas deal was never market tested because he openly said he would not play for anyone else which clearly artifically lowered his value.
Arsenal 'owned' the player, had he said he wanted to leave Arsenal would have touted him across Europe and I'm sure a City, Chelsea or Real Madrid would have topped £30m.
If I wanted to sell my house I'd make it available to everyone and then I'd take the highest offer, standard process when someone sells an asset they own.
Arsenal have lost in this deal, every way you look at it they've lost through no fault of their own, I fully expect a number of senior Arsenal figures to be bitterly disappointed at the player after all that has been done for him.

They have handled it in the best way they possibly could though, they may as well cash in now as Barcelona have said that every year they believe Fabregas' value decreases, and it was clear that Arenal wouldn't have got the best out of him.

I really don't see this as Arsenal 'cashing in' as I said in my posts earlier.
I feel that Arsenal were bullied into making a decision they didn't want to make, and for a sum of money that is far less than they could have gained on the open market.
But I do accept that he needed to go this Summer, the media hype has been a constant distraction, what I now hope is that Messi comes out and says that he's been an Arsenal fan all his life, he feels like he has Arsenal blood running through his veins, he's always wanted to play for the club and wouldn't consider playing for anyone else, which should ensure Wenger picks him up for around half his true value.
A trend could be set here, player power grows stronger....

arsenal should have kept him and not caved

cricketfan90 wrote:arsenal should have kept him and not caved

Fabregas wouldn't have performed anywhere near to the same level as usual and it would probably have disrupted the rest of the side with the media speculation constantly, and considering the wages Fabregas was probably on it wouldn't be financially savvy.

invincibleILeak (CL-6WF) wrote:

cricketfan90 wrote:arsenal should have kept him and not caved

Fabregas wouldn't have performed anywhere near to the same level as usual and it would probably have disrupted the rest of the side with the media speculation constantly, and considering the wages Fabregas was probably on it wouldn't be financially savvy.

Im surprised Arsenal didn't get more money for him seeing as this has been going on so long. They would have been as well selling him a month ago for the same amount and had more time to bring in replacements unless Wenger already has some lined up.

I've lost a lot of respect for Barca after this saga. Repeatedly having players and Barca employees snipe at Arsenal and him in the media, and almost to the point of tapping him up. And now he's paying Arsenal to leave. No matter how they conduct themselves on the pitch, theres a lack of class there.

GSC - an observation many Arsenal fans will agree with, this however started years ago, the constant specualtion over Thierry Henry was just as bad as the Cesc episode.
The clubs officials are very clever at making leading statements and the clubs players very quick to offer the media a view, all designed to de-stabilise the players (Henry/Hleb/Cesc and plenty more before them) and the clubs that own them, it was just worse with Cesc because he is Spanish and originally from Barca and of course spent last Summer winning a world cup with them.
Glad it's over if I'm honest, but I do wish a club somewhere would take a stand with players, maybe City will do it with Tevez given their financial situation

The problem lies with the salaries. A normal club couldn't handle Tevez's £200,000 a week wages or whatever he earns, while he sits on the bench or in the stands. Football is approaching a dangerous point imo with regards to spending over their means.

Cesc Fabregas has apologised to Arsenal's fans for keeping quiet over his Barcelona move and has vowed to explain the decision to rejoin his boyhood club to them in due course.

The Gunners captain returned to Barca after eight years in North London on Monday, ending months of speculation over his future.

He has penned a five-year contract with the Catalan giants, with the deal believed to be worth £35million.

Spain midfielder Fabregas kept quiet over his future in the weeks leading up to his move, despite the very public advances of his new club.

The 24-year-old claims the Gunners enforced a strict vow of silence, and has lamented the fact he was unable to explain himself to the club's supporters.

Fabregas admits it was difficult to leave Emirates Stadium and says he will let Arsenal fans know the full story.

I have time to talk about it and I'm sure I'll do an interview especially for them," he said.

"I'm sorry I couldn't say anything in the last two and a half months, Arsenal wouldn't allow me to talk to anyone, even if I wanted to I couldn't.

"I'm disappointed and upset about it because I have had a great relationship with the fans over the years. It took time to build this and I'm disappointed I could lose some of them.

"All I have are words of gratitude. I'll never forget what they have done for me, I gave absolutely everything to the club and I think they know that but it was the right time to come back here.

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything to them in the last few months but I couldn't. I was very, very sad to leave, I spent one third of my life there, eight years, so I'm very sad but life goes on."

Graeme Swann's Cat wrote:The problem lies with the salaries. A normal club couldn't handle Tevez's £200,000 a week wages or whatever he earns, while he sits on the bench or in the stands. Football is approaching a dangerous point imo with regards to spending over their means.

The only way that will stop is if FIFA bring in a salary cap and have a independant way of deciding transfer fees to stop them getting so ridiculously out of hand. UEFA have tried to introduce a financial fair play rule which Man City have already tried to get around with their so called 400 million pound stadium sponsorship deal. Furthermore isn't it about time all these greedy players 'agents' were banned from football, anyone can turn around to a player and say they should get paid more just to line their own pockets.

braveheart - the merits of a salary cap are well appreciated by NFL fans like GSC and myself.

Does anyone remember the days of the tribunal who sat where clubs couldn't agree a fee ?
Frank Stapletons move to Man Utd was probably the most high profile one I can remember, it seemed sensible at the time that two clubs who disagree over their valuation of a player should be told by an independent tribunal what the transfer fee would be, doesn't quite fit with todays financial bullies.....

Grizzly wrote:braveheart - the merits of a salary cap are well appreciated by NFL fans like GSC and myself.

Does anyone remember the days of the tribunal who sat where clubs couldn't agree a fee ?
Frank Stapletons move to Man Utd was probably the most high profile one I can remember, it seemed sensible at the time that two clubs who disagree over their valuation of a player should be told by an independent tribunal what the transfer fee would be, doesn't quite fit with todays financial bullies.....

I remember that happening alot with lower league clubs but not sure if it still happens though.
I would rather a players value was decided by FIFA/UEFA rather than the clubs, maybe then there wouldn't be clubs spending well over the odds for players. Look at Man City, they have spent well over 500 million in the past 4-5 years and what happens if they don't win the league this season will they go out and spend another 100-150 million next summer.

Braveheart - I don't want to ridicule your suggestion but given that FIFA is as corrupt an organisation as the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) allowing Ballter and his cronies to decide who pays what sounds like a potential error.....

Grizzly wrote:Frank Stapletons move to Man Utd was probably the most high profile one I can remember, it seemed sensible at the time that two clubs who disagree over their valuation of a player should be told by an independent tribunal what the transfer fee would be, doesn't quite fit with todays financial bullies.....

Tribunal's are still used to decide the compensation deals, if the two clubs can't agree after the free transfer of a player under 24.