Source: Daily_Mail
Barcelona send a chill through Arsene Wenger's Arsenal revolution
As if losing to Manchester United and having manager Arsene Wengersent off was not enough, Arsenal's disappointing weekend will look evenworse when they consider the chilling words of Barcelona president JoanLaporta. [LNB]Wenger's almost-fanatical project of winning the league whilebalancing the books - derided and admired in equal measure - has achance of coming into focus this season even though United inflictedtheir first defeat of the season. [LNB] In demand: Cesc Fabregas is still verymuch on Barcelona's wanted list[LNB] Manchester United 2 Arsenal 1: Abou Diaby howler gifts United victory while angry Arsene Wenger is sent to the standsMANCHESTER UNITED FC: All the latest news from across the webARSENAL FC: All the latest news from across the webLay off Eduardo, he's NOT a diver! Arsene Wenger in witch-hunt claims as Arsenal striker is hit by cheat chargeConfidence at the Emirates Stadium will have been shaken by last night's defeat at Old Trafford and now, the question posed indirectly by Laporta is whether the project could survive the loss one of its cornerstones, Cesc Fabregas. [LNB]Fabregas had a hamstring injury and so did not feature yesterday and his absence may well be a situation Arsenal have to learn to live with, not because of injury but because of Barcelona's desire to take him back home to Catalonia. [LNB]It is clear he will not be leaving Arsenal before the transfer window closes on Tuesday.[LNB] The Arsenal manager took public umbrage two weeks ago at the efforts made by Barcelona to lure Fabregas to the Camp Nou, accusing the European champions of a lack of respect and being bad for football. [LNB]But now Laporta has responded. Speaking last week, he proffered an apology of sorts, but not one to reassure the Arsenal hierarchy. [LNB]'I apologise if I bothered Mr Wenger, because I respect him very highly and the job he is doing,' said Laporta. 'But he knows perfectly that the case of Cesc Fabregas is special. He is a Catalan player from our youth team and it is not a secret that we love this player.' [LNB]Indeed, it is not a secret but Laporta's open wooing of the player now resembles the long dance which saw Cristiano Ronaldo end up in the arms of Real Madrid. [LNB]Laporta intends to dignify the pursuit with a degree of honour. [LNB] Annoyed: Arsene Wenger is sent off from the touchline by the referee Mike Dean after protesting Wayne Rooney's goal[LNB]'We know that he is one of the flagships of Arsenal and we respect Cesc Fabregas at Arsenal and, of course, Arsene Wenger,' added Laporta. 'I don't want to bother Mr Wenger because I respect his job very much.' [LNB]Yet, given the manner in which Fabregas was whisked away from Barca's youth team as a 16-year-old shortly after Laporta had been elected President, there is little compunction at the Camp Nou now that they are returning to claim their own.[LNB] Fabregas' departure and the subsequent capture of Fran Merida two years later infuriated Barcelona so much that civil relations between the clubs ceased to exist.[LNB] David Dein, then vice-chairman of Arsenal, was the man who managed to restore normal relations and Arsenal's hugely-respected Spanish scout, Francis Cagigao, was ordered to keep his distance from the Barca youth teams. [LNB]It is an ironic twist that Dein has now left and his son, Darren, a lawyer, will represent Fabregas in contract talks. [LNB]For Fabregas will be the pawn, although doubtless a willing one, in a presidential battle in June, just as Ronaldo was at Real Madrid. [LNB] No doubt: Manchester United's Wayne Rooney is brought down by Arsenal's goalkeeper Manuel Almunia[LNB]Though Laporta cannot stand again after completing two terms as the most successful president in Barca's history, his favoured successor would be Xavier Sala-i-Martin. [LNB]Standing against him will be Sandro Rossell, a former Laporta ally, who is now his fiercest critic. Laporta knows the Fabregas family well while Rossell is also said to be close to the player's clan.[LNB] Both camps will want to claim Fabregas as the defining transfer of their regime. The player has maintained a dignified silence in recent weeks. [LNB]But he had never hidden his desire to return to La Liga. Given that he attended his first match at the Camp Nou at the age of nine in the arms of his grandfather, before progressing through their junior ranks, it would seem difficult to deny him a return home. [LNB]Fabregas, though, is not so fanatical about the club that he would not consider a move to Real Madrid, nor did he baulk at leaving the tribe to pursue a life in London.[LNB] Nevertheless, he naturally maintains close ties to his home city. He was born in Arenys del Mar, some 30 miles north of the city and counts Barca players Gerard Pique, Xavi and Andres Iniesta as good friends. [LNB]Last season he returned there for six weeks when he suffered his knee injury to be treated by a doctor recommended to him by the club's current manager, Pep Guardiola. [LNB]Indeed, Guardiola was the player he idolised as a boy. [LNB]'If Pep asked me then I would return,' he said recently. 'He was my hero and that's why I wear No 4, his number.' [LNB]In fact, that attachment runs deeper than boyhood idolisation. When Fabregas' parents were separating in his early teens, the young player's youth team coach at Barca, Rodolfo Borrel, recognised the emotional effect it was having on the boy and one day presented him with a present to improve his mood: it was a shirt signed by Guardiola, then the Barca captain. [LNB] Paying the penalty: Wayne Rooney scores from the spot[LNB]On it Pep has written: 'One day you will be the No 4 of Barca!' Guardiola would hardly be disappointed if his President next summer were to present Fabregas, the overtures made earlier this month were not at his behest but more a political tussle, with Laporta wishing to preempt his rival Rossell. [LNB]With the two best midfielders in the world, Andres Iniesta and Xavi, in his team, Guardiola's priority has been to add cover at central defence and right back. [LNB]When Barca made their attempt to unsettle Fabregas last month they received a swift rebuttal through intermediaries: Fabregas could leave if Xavi or Iniesta were part of the deal.[LNB] Barca backed off. [LNB]But Wenger knows he has a problem. Last year he insisted that the club needed to tie Fabregas down to a long-term contract by the summer of 2009, because he feared the effect of FIFA's transfer rule, Article 17, which states that a player who has served more than three years on his contract can resign from his club by simply paying up the value of his contract. [LNB]Fabregas signed his most recent contract in October 2006 and so will be free to buy out the remaining four years of his contract, which would amount to around £16million, in the transfer window of January 2010. Wenger finds the situation infuriating and a recipe for instability. [LNB]He will no doubt use the full extent of his authority and charm to convince Fabregas to re-sign; a Champions League victory or a Premier League title might even go some way to convincing him to stay longer. [LNB]But it is hard to avoid the feeling that the clock is ticking down on his Arsenal career.[LNB] 'January 2010 is a long time,' said Wenger when discussing the issue in December, confident that he could persuade Fabregas to sign again. [LNB]But unless a contract is signed in the next four months, Fabregas will be in control of his next move.[LNB] Manchester United 2 Arsenal 1: Abou Diaby howler gifts United victory while angry Arsene Wenger is sent to the standsMANCHESTER UNITED FC: All the latest news from across the webARSENAL FC: All the latest news from across the webLay off Eduardo, he's NOT a diver! Arsene Wenger in witch-hunt claims as Arsenal striker is hit by cheat charge[LNB] [LNB] Explore more:People:Joan Laporta, Cristiano Ronaldo, Andres Iniesta, David Dein, Wayne Rooney, Arsene Wenger, Mike Dean, Pep GuardiolaPlaces:London, Barcelona
