da bet esporte： Arsenal may have been handed a life line in their attempts to fend off Barcelona from persistently pursuing Cesc Fabregas. The Catalan giants haven’t been shy in expressing their interest in Fabregas, apparently having bids rejected by Arsenal during the summer. Yet Arsenal’s plight may become easier, as another player has appeared on Barcelona’s transfer radar and that is the PSV playmaker Ibrahim Afellay whose contract terminates in June next year. Afellay has refused to renew his contract, sparking a considerable amount of interest across Europe; with Arsenal being strongly linked and now Barcelona are being reported to have initiated contract talks.
da heads bet： Is this a blessing in disguise for Arsenal? For although they may miss out on a 24-year old prospect, they would retain their much coveted captain. Afellay as an alternative for Barcelona is just that, an alternative, he isn’t quite the real deal, but because they can’t attain it, they’ll settle for something of slightly less quality. This change in concentration comes from the exorbitant asking price that Arsenal has labelled Fabregas with, reported to be in the region of £45 million.
A Barca source was attributed in saying: “The money situation in the club changes the situation and today it is impossible to accept a big expense for the reinforcements.” Therefore if we are to adhere to what is said, Barca can’t afford Fabregas and will settle for Afellay. From the statement, the word ‘reinforcement’ strikes me as significant, for by definition a reinforcement comes after the starting player and acts as back-up effectively. I’m not sure many clubs would class Fabregas as reinforcement to their squad, apart from Barca apparently and even £45 million is too much for that purpose.
With the Spanish media claiming contract talks have been opened for Afellay, it seems that Arsenal may breathe a sigh of relief, in that Arsene Wenger won’t have to convince Fabregas to stay and that venerated pocket of Wenger’s will remain intact. Circumstances of serendipity have transpired to aid Arsenal in what seemed something of inevitability, a matter of when Fabregas would leave for Barca rather than if he would.
But when you require the attention of certain persons to fade away, a diversion is always handy and can be enacted by oneself or come fortuitously, leaving the previous interest to dissipate. It may be suggestible for Arsenal to continue with their interest in Afellay, merely to portray a false competition that will spur Barca on further to capture the player, resulting in the actual goal of Arsenal’s, to keep Fabregas.
I wouldn’t treat Barcelona with too much naivety though, for they won’t forget about Fabregas completely, rather it will just hand Fabregas more time at Arsenal which is a bonus to the fans more than anything. If Arsenal are to attain any success over the next few years than Fabregas will be central to this aim, just how long he shall remain to pursue it, is another matter.
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