By Jonathan Chong on Thursday, October 9, 2008

Midfielder Francesc Fabregas, speaking to a Catalan radio station, says that whilst Barcelona are playing fantastic football at the moment, he's more than happy at Arsenal.

Fabregas showed his expertise at handling the media and was at his most diplomatic when he said that it would be a dream to play for his boyhood club, but he was focusing on winning trophies with the Gunners.

Many could take Fabregas' words as a warning that he will not stick around if Arsenal do not match his ambitions, but it's the words of a captain-in-waiting who's trying to give his future charges a kick up their behinds.

Fabregas said: "Right now I'm fine at Arsenal but I cannot deny that to return and play for Barca would be a dream come true.

"I chose to stay at the club last summer and right now I'm totally focused on the reason for that decision which was to try and win trophies. We'll see how things have gone by the end of the season.

"The fact is that Barca are playing cinematic football right now and it's fantastic to see that the other day when they beat Atletico Madrid 6-1 they had seven or eight guys who, like me, came through the club's youth system."

The Spaniard also heaped praise on Lionel Messi and surprisingly revealed that he missed playing with Alexander Hleb, whom he says was unselfish in his passing.

He added: "Every week I chat to Alex Hleb on the phone because he's the guy I most miss at Arsenal. He's a friend and I also loved playing with him.

"He always looks for you with a pass and if you give him the ball you can always count on getting it back at the right time."

User Comments

27

saraki

Posted on 12 Oct, 2008 at 10:14 PM - Reply

Guys u better wake up, football is not fiction but real, we have seen great players leaving their clubs, who ever thought Veira would leave Arsenal? with all his passion and dedication for the club, our unforgetable King Henry they have all gone, i believe they have more attachment with the club than Fab, but yet they left. Wether Fab said it or not, d fact that he is not playing like he used to play tell u that something is wrong, u dont need a psychologist to tell u that his focus is drifting, that the sooner mr wenger sign experience MD and a good center back that will cover for either Kolo or Gallas the better for us, otherwise, Fab will go, cos we have seen it happening again,and again, and again.

26

David

Posted on 12 Oct, 2008 at 08:53 PM - Reply

Wenger has lost it! In consecutive games he started Denilson and Adebayor, who seemed to be tired and useless respectively. We could have Vela and Bendtner both started the game at Sunderland or against Hull. Wenger might be good at spotting talent, but he is definitely not good at coaching a title winning team. It's time Wenger should consider leaving Arsenal. And for Cesc, it's better for him to leave and to win trophies with other ambitious teams as long as Wenger is still around. It's waste of time playing for a manager, who always moaned after losing, and blamed players lack of concentration or sharpness whilst it was indeed his tactical mistake.

25

RoseR-SA

Posted on 12 Oct, 2008 at 02:17 PM - Reply

I adore Cesc & seems like he is a great guy on & off pitch. What troubles me is that you can see there are problems in the team. Certain guys won't pass to others - well not unless they absolutely have to. When someone like Adebayour doesn't celabrate when Cesc scores there is a problem there. I am sad that Arsene Wenger is not doing something about it. If he loses Cesc because of this he will regret it to his dying day.

24

Gunner 4 life

Posted on 12 Oct, 2008 at 11:34 AM - Reply

I just heard that Arsene Wenger made an €8 millon offer to PSV for Ibrahim Afellay! I think its a great news, because Afellay is a great player, we need more midfield players! Hopefully this is the beging of a quality shoping spree by AW!

23

Parks

Posted on 12 Oct, 2008 at 04:02 AM - Reply

Wenger's reluctance or inability to obtain 2 mature body DM's in the transfer window will come back to bite. Why hasn't a club with such a high revenue been unable to cover the loss of Flamini? I fear Wenger's constant spruiking of the youth is mere window dressing. We're about winning silverware, not becoming a kindergarten for Barca, AC, etc.

22

Ashab

Posted on 11 Oct, 2008 at 04:03 PM - Reply

Yo Yo Yo this is Adebayor. Look people we have to be strong together as a unit and never lose hope. I know I can score 40 this season and turn things around so no worries. Peace, Arsene Wenger all the way.

21

tomy boi

Posted on 11 Oct, 2008 at 03:38 PM - Reply

fabregas is a very rare natural!if we let him go then were stuffed! Wenger uve gotta roll ur sleves up and get into that january transfer window and sign some class!maybe if we had more like fabregas he might stay! wenger ur a good manager but uve gotta start signing people.A few more seasons with no trophies our team will fall apart and i fink it would be time to say goodbye to Mr Wenger!!!!!

20

Edgar

Posted on 11 Oct, 2008 at 05:00 AM - Reply

Cesc a few months ago was quoted saying he would never leave Arsenal. But I think he just wanted to let listeners hear what they want to hear.

19

delboy

Posted on 11 Oct, 2008 at 01:32 AM - Reply

Remember this is media shit again and twisting stuff, does anyone recall when flam arrived first no one thought he was good enough. Give it a chance you fickle media lead people!!

18

Syed Haider

Posted on 10 Oct, 2008 at 10:54 PM - Reply

Do you think Wenger will get someone in the team? No. He will have faith in the youngsters, even if we dont qualify for the CL next year. This team simply does not have players of the same caliber that the teams before had. Why Wenger has persisted with the combination of gallas-toure is beyond me. Why he has not bought a DM when we so badly need one is another one (he promised us, and then lied to us!). Why he under-utilizes our squad (bendtner and vela are untested) is also beyond me. Why he has peristed with playing denilson and fabregas together is another one of my questions, when song is a much better DM. He has also shown a lack of technical prowess, when making tactical substitutions during games (no guts). Fabregas should leave at the end of the season if we dont win anything, and i think it will be utterly disgraceful if fans abuse him for it (like they abused king henry, hleb, flamini etc).

17

koen_nmgn

Posted on 10 Oct, 2008 at 07:51 PM - Reply

If I was Cesc and we didn't win anything for another year, I would definately consider going. It's sad but true. Arsenal fail to raise their level from just below top to top. That bothers me and I'm sure it bothers Cesc too.

16

Gunner 4 life

Posted on 10 Oct, 2008 at 07:21 PM - Reply

Letting Hleb and Flamini go without a fight was a huge mistake by Arsene Wenger, but it happend and theres nothing we can do about it! What we need is a solution, we need a defencive CM that can help Csec attack more and provide more balls to our striking pair. Walcott is a great player and with a little more experience, he can be a better player than Hleb!

15

Syed Haider

Posted on 10 Oct, 2008 at 06:04 PM - Reply

I love fabregas as a player and a person... but i loved viera, pires, hleb and flamini too. i think fabregas should leave at the end of the season if we dont win any trophies. this kid deserves trophies! i am very disappointed in the lack of ambition and class showed by Wenger, not just in signing players in the transfer window; but also the lack of bold decisions made by him (either gallas or toure has to be removed; we were promised a DM in this transfer window, we didnt get any. He doesnt have the guts to start vela in the team with adebayor. And silvestre gets a 2 year contract, but he was refusing to give one to pires!!!!!)

14

phader

Posted on 10 Oct, 2008 at 10:40 AM - Reply

the problem with arsenal is that we never keep continuity in out team....ok we kept the same defence but the defence or shud i say, the center backs are the problem....we had a nice hard workin midfield last season, (that all got on well with each other off the field 2), and arsene let 2 of them leave...now we got denilson (1st proper season in the starting 11), nasri(new signing), and walcott (first season in the starting 11)...and van persie and adebayour havn't really had that much time to gel as a strike force...

and also, this new team dont kno how to mix it up when, opposing teams get all there players behind the ball...last season we did well against teams like that, (hleb's ball controll, cutting inside, delevering a final ball)...but i dont think walcott can do dat...

i honesly dont see how arsene think arsenal can improve this season, wen weve changed our team for young stars who have not played the arsenal way day in day out

13

jp20

Posted on 10 Oct, 2008 at 10:08 AM - Reply

he just indicated that he would love to play at barca,not that he was going to play at barca,who wouldnt?not even henry couldnt resist the offer,

i really dont understand all the fuss about this

12

mike

Posted on 9 Oct, 2008 at 09:48 PM - Reply

how the hell do you get that interpretation from what he said? You're just as bad as the media twisting his words to your own purposes and giving him an intention you have no way of knowing whether he had.

Why can't people just accept it's not clear what he meant. You can't say he intended to give anyone a kick up the behind anymore than you can say he intends to leave. We don't know what he meant. Maybe he should be clearer in future.

11

Ken Mweemba

Posted on 9 Oct, 2008 at 07:08 PM - Reply

Well, thats not what Hleb said about you. If I remember very well he said you are selfish and you would rather shoot at goal than pass the ball to your friend who is in a better position to score

10

Terri

Posted on 9 Oct, 2008 at 04:02 PM - Reply

Thank god we have got Cesc he is the only player that shows real passion playing for the club and wanting to win every game.
We need more like that

9

shkum

Posted on 9 Oct, 2008 at 03:38 PM - Reply

some media has writen cesk has been saying he will leav arsenal if they fell to win somehtink this year.how can i belive this when i have watched him saying he will not leav arsenal even if they felt to win title this seasen.he will be with arsenal till they continue to play their style of football game

8

Amir

Posted on 9 Oct, 2008 at 03:02 PM - Reply

We have to keep this man happy, and that means replacing Denilson. Fast. Cesc seemed to imply that if we don't win anything this season, he'll look elsewhere- therein, our team will fall apart.

7

Goonerbeall

Posted on 9 Oct, 2008 at 02:57 PM - Reply

Cesc is not the only one missing Hleb.
Belarussian had ability to prise open defences
and his ball retention/possession was second to
none. He might have been a shy shooter but by god
he dribbled and created opportunities that made
Ade top scorer. His services are missed.

6

awol

Posted on 9 Oct, 2008 at 02:54 PM - Reply

I want to see Cesk only with Gunners Shirt and being the captain of the team as well.

5

dayo

Posted on 9 Oct, 2008 at 01:37 PM - Reply

fabrigas must forget about hleb at least for now.

4

Realist

Posted on 9 Oct, 2008 at 01:07 PM - Reply

He is going to leave at the end of the season, end of. Get used to 5 more years of the old, old Arsenal, no trophies and no more glory, not until the next golden age comes around.

3

mike

Posted on 9 Oct, 2008 at 12:42 PM - Reply

AS THIS WAS A SPANISH NEWS REPORT AND AS IT WAS CATALAN THEN WHYB WOULD ANYONE TAKE IT SERIOUS, NOT i SIR.

2

Rupe

Posted on 9 Oct, 2008 at 11:25 AM - Reply

Well said. There's been too much nonsense written about this interview. He's being interviewed by a Catalan station, of course he's going to say nice things about Barca. It doesn't mean he's thinking of leaving. He'll end up there one day but there's no reason to think it'll be before his powers are on the wane.

Similarly with the Hleb thing. Everyone knows Senderos was his best mate at Arsenal. But Hleb's at Barca so he's the man he chose to big up to the locals there.

It all just confirms the sheer class of the man.

1

Henna

Posted on 9 Oct, 2008 at 11:18 AM - Reply

no fotget your dream and stay at arsenal beacuse we need you
i love fabregas and he cant move think of all the other dreams he'll break by fulfilling his own dream
please i wish he stays at arsenal for ever!!

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