Just havin' a larf, yeah? The Barca players aren't as bad as their media, but the complete lack of respect for Arsenal is definitely out of order. Not a day goes by without a story popping up like:

"Xavi / Messi / Iniesta / Pique urges Cesc to join Barca".

The players are just being asked questions, but Barca (and Real) use their media outlets to influence transfers. Arsenal are furious about this, and the new Barca President knows he has a lot to do to undo the actions of his predecessor.

Barca might have a better chance of landing him if they just shut up and approached Arsenal for some private negotiations. £29m was a joke, taking into account Cesc's age, form and contract at Arsenal. Barca are just acting like jerkatrons because they're in debt and they're doing anything they can to drive the price down.

Fabregas himself has been great throughout, so I would have no bad feeling towards him if he did go.

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I did this by severing my real arms and replacing them with super-human cyborg arms.

This might sound a bit odd coming from a United fan, but I actually kind of hope Fabregas doesn't leave Arsenal. The more world-class players that stay in the Premier League, the better.

It'd be a real shame to have yet another geniunely brilliant player move to the Spanish duopoly

English media, Spanish,Italian they all the same. I do agree with you that Barcelona/Real are heavily influenced by their media. Last Season both clubs were having digs at each other thanks to the Real media saying ''Barcelona players never get a red card, the refs are on their side'' funny enough the next game Barcelona player got a red for absolutely nothing. Barcelona is never going to need to worry about being in debt they'll always get rescued and bailed out. I'm still positive that Cesc will play for Barcelona this season, in the next few weeks you'll hear that Cesc is unhappy etc etc and wants to join Barcelona. I personally believe that they should let him go and let him play where he is happy. He wants to join Barcelona at this stage because they are incredibly good and probably wants to win Champions league.

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I'm the same, regardless of club it's brilliant to be able to watch World Class players. Although I can understand Cesc going seeing as he's Spanish so it's not as annoying as it usually is, and I like Barca more than Madrid.

I'm sure Cesc will leave one day.....

But unless Barca up the bid, Arsenal won't let him leave without a huge pay out.

How much do you reckon Cesc is worth?

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I know you're not asking me but I reckon he's worth about £50m. Maybe more.

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Please be realistic.

£35 is more then enough for him.

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Considering he's Arsenal's captain and best player, and they don't need to sell him, he's worth whatever they want.

The only thing which would decrease his value is him wanting to leave.

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Jam's right. I wouldn't take a pound under £50million for him.

He is a great player but he clearly is not the best midfielder let alone the best spanish midfielder in the world. 35 is enough and any more Arsenal are just being greedy.

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Totally agree. Barca's disrespect for other clubs as well as their arrogance in thinking that they can sign anyone they want just by clicking their fingers make me hate them nearly as much as Real these days. Good on Arsenal for telling them where to shove their bids.

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One's never alone with a rubber duck

Of course they'll be greedy, we're talking about an excellent player who is the club captain and who Arsenal have no need to sell. The price is always going to be set by the selling club with that in mind.

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"I'm just a sick guy."

We should have this chat in the football thread, it's too quiet over there!

Time to lock this one maybe?

How are Barcelona arrogant in any way?

Its 2 of their players messing around after they won the biggest cup of their careers, hardly has anything to do with the board of Barcelona. 2006 Barcelona became the first club ever to sponsor a sponsorship (UNICEF) and gives them 1.5 million euros per year to the organization for five years. I bet Liverpool or in fact any other club has hardly ever considered that let alone do it. Barcelona is far from arrogant just because 2 players put a shirt on Fabregas do not blame the whole club for it.

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What about Villa and Acorn?

The shirt incident was just the tip of the iceberg. Granted, the UNICEF thing is admirable, but for the TV money them and Real get it's not that grand a gesture. It makes Real look a hell of a lot worse, though.

As for Cesc's value, he's clearly worth at least £40m. He's not as good at controlling a midfield as Xavi, but has a hell of a lot more goals and assists. I love the Barca attitude of "we really want to bring Cesc home, Barca DNA blah blah blah...but we're not paying a penny over £30m, he's not even that good".

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I did this by severing my real arms and replacing them with super-human cyborg arms.

Credit to Villa but it was only for 12 months compared to Barcelona's 5 year contract.

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Barcelona never said ''Fabregas is not even good'' but they are right when they say Fabregas needs to play in Spain in order to be one of the best one day. Him playing with Iniesta/Xavi will only improve his game more. I personally reckon Barcelona will make a bid of 40 million and if Arsenal refuse then Fabregas will show it on the field by playing very poor until they actually let him go for a lot less.

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I doubt Cesc would be that unprofessional and it would be a real kick in the teeth to a club that he apparently has great affection for and has given him so much. Slightly unrelated but I really hate the amount of power players have these days regarding transfers anyway.

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One's never alone with a rubber duck