Just One More Season, Cesc...

I believe one must be careful analysing transfer related comments by players, because they are never an accurate indicator of what a player wants to do in the future. What a player says is heavily influenced by the occasion of when he says it, by media wanting to colour it in a certain way and his general mood at the time of saying it. Also, a player is a human being after all, and he can change his mind pretty quickly. Therefore, I don't usually make conclusions from comments that appear in the newspapers. However, this time, I couldn't resist it, because the comments were from our very own Cesc Fabregas.

After some of Cesc's comments in Barcelona, the press got enough fodder for gossip, which they coupled with their notoriously poor reasoning abilities to conclude that Cesc is on his way out. What was it that Fabregas said, which prompted headlines such as "Cesc ready to join Barcelona"? Here's what he said -

"If I ever leave Arsenal it will be to play for Barcelona. I am 23 years old and I have a long career in front of me. I've never hidden the fact that playing for Barcelona is a dream that I would like to fulfill.

You see your team-mates succeeding here [in Barcelona] and it is exciting because you have worked alongside them for so long. I think I would like to go to Barcelona, whether or not they want me is another thing. I don't know when it will happen. I am happy at Arsenal and I am not in a rush to leave. Before I leave for the World Cup I want my future sorted out because it benefits nobody if I go into the tournament with something else on my mind."

A bit more perspective here. As with all other quotes, these quotes came after Cesc was prompted by journalists. So he never said "If I ever leave Arsenal it will be to play for Barcelona" on his own volition. He was asked whether Barcelona will be the team he plays for if he ever left Arsenal, to which he replied "Yes, definitely".

Anyway, the reason for discussing Cesc's desire to stay at Arsenal is that this time, unlike in the previous years, I am skeptical about to whether he will stay. Although I have pointed out that the press, as usual, has twisted some statements from Fabregas to create an impression that a transfer is imminent, I am less confident of him staying this year than I was last year. I fear the worst. The italicized text above are the reasons I believe he will stay, and the underlined portion is what makes me uncomfortable.

He clearly says that if ever he leaves Arsenal, he will only go to Barcelona. That shows he loves the club, and that the affection he has matters more to him than trophies. He is saying clearly that he will only leave from one club he loves to another one he loves. It also shows that his chances of leaving, in case Barcelona do not chase him, are remote. He will not leave for any other club in the world.

That said, Barcelona seem interested, and Cesc has said he wants to sort out his future before the World Cup. He is contracted at Arsenal till 2014, so why would he want to "sort out" his future now? It shows that there is some uncertainty there. And that is what worries me.

It  worries me because this transfer will be a massive setback for everything that the current Arsenal stands for. It will be a transfer that inflicts a killer blow on Arsene Wenger's vision for the club. 

The vision is of a young, intelligently assembled group of youngsters growing together, maturing together to form a great institution of total football. The vision is admirable, but it rests on one fundamental necessity  - that a player, when developed and ready to lead the team to the next level, is kept at the club to achieve what he has been trained for. Once that requirement is taken care of, it is only a matter of time before the model yields results for a club as good at developing players as Arsenal are. However, if this crucial condition is not met, the model fails. 'Fails' is not to say that the club does not achieve good results, but it is to say that the ultimate goal of creating that dream team is not achieved.

The previous transfers of the likes of Thierry Henry and Vieira were difficult to accept, but Cesc's transfer, if it goes through, will be infinitely more grievous for the club. Wenger will find another gem, and Arsenal will be competitive again, but the transfer will be a big blow to everything that Arsenal and Wenger have stood for in the last 5 years. It will be a defeat of a brave ideology. Arsenal may not be the same again. They will have to change their philosophy. It will be a win for the likes of Mourinho, who recently said - "Arsenal won it in an incredible way and after that they thought they could win in a different way. They cannot win it in a different way. Either they go back to where they were or they don’t do it."

I hope Cesc stays back and proves Arsenal can do it in a different way. Just one more season, Cesc, and you'll want to stay back. Just one more season...