BY JAMESMCNICHOLAS
OPINION: With the former Gunners star potentially heading for a Barcelona exit, the Gunners must act quick and bring him home, to prevent him becoming RVP Mark II
Should Cesc Fabregas leave Barcelona this summer, Arsenal must do everything they can to bring him back to North London. It’s not just his undoubted quality that makes the prospect of Fabregas’ return so appealing.
The desire to see him rejoin is fuelled in large part by the sickening thought of him wearing another Premier League team’s colours.
In some respects, an Arsenal move for Fabregas would come as something of a surprise.
If they require any reinforcement in midfield, it’s surely a destroyer rather than another creator. Tomas Rosicky, Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil are all capable of playing in Fabregas’ preferred number 10 role.
On the other hand, Arsenal’s two holding midfielders, Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini, are both the wrong side of 30 and a year from the end of their contract. Wenger doesn't ostensibly need Fabregas.
However, since when has he allowed anything as prosaic as “need” to dictate his transfer policy? In the January transfer window of 2009, Arsenal fans were crying out for a strong centre-half and a mobile defensive midfielder.
John Cross: Arsenal DON'T need Fabregas but they should sign him anyway
Instead, Wenger presented them with the mercurial Andrey Arshavin. Last summer, Arsenal seemed to be desperate for a speedy centre-forward. Unmoved, the Frenchman moved for another temperamental playmaker: Mesut Ozil.
Perhaps the Gunners boss believes you can never have too much of a good thing. Given Arsenal’s chronic injury problems, he’s probably right. They might not need Fabregas when everyone is fit, however, that is an increasingly infrequent occurrence. Wilshere, Ramsey and Ozil all missed significant chunks of 2013/14 with a troubling variety of physiological problems.
Had Arsenal had been able to call upon a player of Fabregas’ ilk, rather than be forced in to making a deadline day swoop for crocked Swede Kim Kallstrom, the final stages of the title race might have played out rather differently.
How exactly Fabregas is deployed in the current Arsenal team is a problem that can be solved at a later date. One of the attributes he’s added to his game since going back to La Liga is versatility. He’s not just a floating number 10: he’s could also fit in as a deep-lying playmaker, an inside forward, or even as a false nine.
One thing Arsenal fans are determined not to see him fit into is a Manchester United shirt. The Gunners have a 'first refusal' clause in the event of Fabregas being sold. If a rival Premier League club threaten to take Fabregas, the Gunners must act.
No comments:
Post a Comment