Cloud Cuckoo

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

Wenger tells Fabregas a move to Barca would be a step down

 

Arsène Wenger has told Cesc Fábregas that moving to Spain would be a step down. Wenger, who also insisted Fábregas will not be sold to Barcelona and denied that any secret meetings have taken place between his club and the European champions, insisted that the Spanish league is in "complete disarray".

 

The Arsenal chairman, Peter Hill-Wood, had claimed on Wednesday that Barcelona had promised not to bid for Fábregas during informal talks between the clubs, but the Liga side have since denied any such agreement.

 

"We have not been in contact with Barcelona," said Wenger today. "There is an official dinner before every Champions League game and of course there is a lot of talk but there is no official meeting about Cesc. There is no secret meeting because we do not want to sell our players and anyway I cannot see anybody who has a competitive edge going to Spain.

 

"They have two good teams [barcelona and Real Madrid], I confess that. The No3 [Valencia] is 24 points behind. This weekend the players [planned to] go on strike because they are not paid. It is a league that is in complete disarray. I don't know why you want absolutely the best players who play in England to go to Spain. If you are really competitive, you stay in England.

 

"That is where the competition is and that is where the best players want to be. I have so many calls from Spanish players who want to join us and want to come here. We want to keep this team together and improve from season to season. I believe we have made a big step forward considering last season and we want to do that again next season."

 

Fábregas's contract with Arsenal runs until 2014 and Wenger is clearly angered by the constant speculation. "Nobody puts a gun to your head when you sign a contract," said Wenger. "We have more players who want to join us than players who want to leave us.

 

"It should be absolutely logical to you that a player who is paid as he is paid respects his contract. I respect my contract because I have loyalty to the players so why should the players not respect theirs? We have gone for a policy of development of the team over a longer period. We have stood up for these young players so it is down to them to pay us back, stay together and show that we can be successful together."

 

Wenger, who has virtually conceded the title for another season after Wednesday's defeat against Tottenham, also disagreed with recent comments by the England manager, Fabio Capello, that the lack of spending among England's Big Four was the reason for their early demise in the Champions League.

 

Wenger said: "I don't agree with that. The competition in the Premier League has become much harder and the big teams in the Premier League paid for that in the Champions League.

 

"You cannot afford any more, against anybody in England, to rest your players before a Champions League match. The physical demands in the Premier League are just so high that you go into the Champions League in March and April having lost your best players or already having exhausted them.

 

"It was an exception from us because we played against a stronger team [barcelona] and you have to accept that. They were better than us but under normal circumstances Man Utd would have gone through and Chelsea as well."

 

Arsenal go to Wigan on Sunday, where Robin van Persie could start for the first time in five months if he recovers from tight muscles following his return against Tottenham in midweek.

 

Thomas Vermaelen is out for the season with a calf strain and Wenger admits, with William Gallas out of contract in the summer, central defence is a priority. Wenger, who could have £30m to spend in the summer, plans talks with 35-year-old Sol Campbell about his future but insists Arsenal will not break their strict line on wages.

 

"We keep our policy always," he said. "We manage within our resources and we will not overpay the players, we cannot."

 

On the match against Wigan he added: "The morale is down because we lost a game we could not afford to lose. Our job is to focus on the next game and finish the season with as many points as we can. That is our target. We want to show that we can respond on Sunday."

[Rory Fitzgerald]

Aye playing with those midgets in midfield is a step down from playing with Denilson, Song and Diaby.

[Gerry]

So where's the bit where Wenger says moving from Arsenal to Barcelona is a "step down"? Am I blind?

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

that's what the headline said

[BG]

There would be people on here saying the same if Barca wanted to buy Nando...

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

they'd be right

[Benzo-13]

I hate Wenger.

The myopic over indulged berk.

[muleskinner]

He's right about the Spanish league being in bad way. The state of the Premier League and theirs and Italy make a European League ever closer IMO if the clubs want to keep the money flowing in from TV.

Edited April 16, 2010 by muleskinner

[Gerry]

that's what the headline said

 

Well, indeed. I'm not having a pop at you. The headline does say that, but then when I read the article Wenger doesn't actually seem to say anything of the sort. hey ho Not a biggie.

[Sion]

There would be people on here saying the same if Barca wanted to buy Nando...

Historically Liverpool to Barca wouldn't be a step up. They were crap from 1960-1990.

[BG]

Historically Liverpool to Barca wouldn't be a step up. They were crap from 1960-1990.

 

While there's something in their (relative ) lack of success during that period I think it's pretty hard to argue that a move to Barca now would be a step down from Liverpool on anything other than historic grounds.

 

They have a stadium more than twice the size of ours, the best player in the world (by a mile) and are playing absolutely incredible stuff. IMO anyone who has lived in Spain for any length of time would find it hard to argue that Barca and Madrid have a significance in Spanish life in a way which no English club even comes close to matching over here.

[Sion]

 

IMO anyone who has lived in Spain for any length of time would find it hard to argue that Barca and Madrid have a significance in Spanish life in a way which no English club even comes close to matching over here.

 

I have and I'd say Liverpool at least matches the significance, if not outpasses it.

 

Agree Barca are way ahead of us nowadays though.

[BG]

I have and I'd say Liverpool at least matches the significance, if not outpasses it.

 

Agree Barca are way ahead of us nowadays though.

 

I'd say then we're going to have to agree to disagree on the significance of the two clubs based on our own respective experiences in Spain.

 

I suppose all I was getting in my original post was that all clubs thing they're the biggest/most important/most special. It's part of being a fan.

[John am Rhein]

they'd be right

 

indeed they would. Any club is a step down from Liverpool and the Catalonian School of Science, about 3 steps down

[PhilM]

His role at Barca would be a step down, because he'd probably be on the bench. Who would they drop for him? Iniesta? Xavi? If they played him instead of Busquets/Keita/Toure, their midfield would get totally overrun.