The Emirates boss believes the club could have got more money for their former captain but has praised his stint in north London
Aug 15, 2011
Cesc Fabregas - Barcelona (Getty)
LONDON -- Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admits the club could have triggered a bidding war for Cesc Fabregas but insists Barcelona was his former captain's only destination.
The midfielder completed his switch to the European champions on Monday in an initial 29 million euros deal with a further 10 million euros add-ons, a fee which Wenger maintains could have been higher had Arsenal welcomed offers from other rivals.
"If Cesc is for sale and you can make an auction between Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City, you will certainly get more money, but he just wanted to go to Barcelona," Wenger explained. "We didn’t even try [to encourage other clubs to bid] because we did not want to sell the player. Our desire was to keep the player."
Wenger defended the club's no-sell stance on their former captain which was present all summer and insisted Arsenal were correct to delay Barcelona's pursuit of the Spain international.
"If he was on the market to any club we would have got more money but we did want to get a decent fee," said Wenger. "That’s what I’m paid for. You cannot say because you want to get the deal done as quickly as possible: ‘Just take him and give us what you want’. You have to fight for your rights."
Fabregas was Arsenal's youngest ever captain and scored 57 goals in just over 300 appearances for the club, a record which Wenger praised.
"Cesc has given us eight years and it was a pleasure to work with him on a daily basis," said Wenger. "It was a pleasure to watch him - every day - to play football."
He said, "I’m sure it was a pleasure for you as well to watch him play. So that’s part of life. Maybe he will come back one day to the club, you never know."
The midfielder completed his switch to the European champions on Monday in an initial 29 million euros deal with a further 10 million euros add-ons, a fee which Wenger maintains could have been higher had Arsenal welcomed offers from other rivals.
"If Cesc is for sale and you can make an auction between Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City, you will certainly get more money, but he just wanted to go to Barcelona," Wenger explained. "We didn’t even try [to encourage other clubs to bid] because we did not want to sell the player. Our desire was to keep the player."
Wenger defended the club's no-sell stance on their former captain which was present all summer and insisted Arsenal were correct to delay Barcelona's pursuit of the Spain international.
"If he was on the market to any club we would have got more money but we did want to get a decent fee," said Wenger. "That’s what I’m paid for. You cannot say because you want to get the deal done as quickly as possible: ‘Just take him and give us what you want’. You have to fight for your rights."
Fabregas was Arsenal's youngest ever captain and scored 57 goals in just over 300 appearances for the club, a record which Wenger praised.
"Cesc has given us eight years and it was a pleasure to work with him on a daily basis," said Wenger. "It was a pleasure to watch him - every day - to play football."
He said, "I’m sure it was a pleasure for you as well to watch him play. So that’s part of life. Maybe he will come back one day to the club, you never know."
No comments:
Post a Comment