Hands off Cesc Fabregas, say Arsenal
Adamant Gunners tell Barcelona that their captain is not for sale at any price
Published: 03 June 2010
by STEVE BARNETT
CESC Fabregas looks set to be denied his dream move back to Barcelona after Arsenal revealed that they have rejected an offer from the Spanish giants and have no intention of selling their skipper.
Fabregas is reportedly seeking a move back to the Nou Camp, speculation that seemed to signal an end to his Gunners’ career on Tuesday when Barcelona finally made a formal bid for the midfielder.
Arsenal responded by showing their first real intentions of keeping the 23-year-old at the Emirates. A statement on the club’s website read: “Fabregas is under contract with the club until the summer of 2015. He is a highly-valued member of the team and part of our future plans.
“We have followed recent speculation linking Cesc with a move away from the club but as there has never been any official approach for him, only two informal exchanges, in which we made it abundantly clear that we have no interest in transferring Cesc, we have refrained from publicly passing comment. However, we received an offer from Barcelona for Cesc and in response, we immediately and resolutely told them once again that we have no intention of selling our captain.”
Fabregas, who played alongside Lionel Messi in the Barcelona youth team before moving to north London seven years ago, signed an eight-year contract with the Gunners in 2006.
And Arsenal are adamant that their prize asset is going nowhere, adding: “To be clear, we will not make any kind of counterproposal or enter into any discussion.
“Barcelona have publicly stated that they will respect our position and we expect that they will keep their word.”