Fabregas cagey about Barca move
Negotiations between clubs at ‘a decisive stage’ – report
Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas avoided discussing speculation over his possible return to Barcelona when he attended a ceremony in Madrid yesterday, insisting he remains “an Arsenal player”.
“If sometime I have to move from Arsenal I will say so when it happens, without disrespecting the club that has given me so much, but right now I’m an Arsenal player and I’m very happy there,” Fabregas said during the presentation of some perfumes in Madrid.
“I’m very happy to be where I am, otherwise it would mislead people and lead to speculation,” he said, but admitted he was unhappy at Arsenal’s lack of silverware in recent years.
“Yes, I’m frustrated at not winning titles, I’ve always wanted to win and not winning always hurts more when you’ve given so much.”
Spanish media has said recently that Gunners coach Arsene Wenger has abandoned efforts to hold on to Fabregas who could be set for a return to Barcelona.
The Barcelona-based sports daily Sport said yesterday that negotiations between the clubs have entered “a decisive phase”.
Fabregas “is hoping that the two clubs can agree on a transfer fee”, the newspaper said, adding that Barcelona are ready to pay €30 million while the London club wants €40 million for the 24-year-old midfielder, a star of Spain’s 2010 World Cup-winning squad.
Wenger had insisted last month that he was determined to spend a second successive summer fighting off mighty Barcelona to keep Fabregas at the Emirates.
The Gunners turned down a bid from the Spanish champions last year for a player who spent his junior days at Barcelona before joining Arsenal at the age of 16 in 2003.
“I am a Barca supporter. I am a member like my grandfather, my uncle, my cousin..,” Fabregas said last year.
“I love their colours since I was very small. I am Catalan.
“However, I am captain of Arsenal, I am a Gunner and it is there that I have become a player and that I have matured as a player and a person.”