Smith praises Wenger resilience

Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith has praised Arsène Wenger for being able to keep Cesc Fabregas at the club.

The Spaniard was tempted to leave Arsenal for Barcelona this summer, but Wenger made it clear that he would not be accepting any offers for his captain.

Sky Sports pundit Smith is impressed that Wenger has been able to persuade Fabregas to stay, and believes it sends a strong message to the Arsenal fans.

He said: Credit to Arsène Wenger, he's refused to roll over in the face of a lot of pressure from the player and Barcelona.

"Quite often these days when a player decides he wants a move mid-contract he gets his way, so fair play to Wenger for sticking to his guns and insisting that his captain stops at Arsenal.

"He's one of the world's best midfielders and he's only going to get better. He's the club captain, he means a lot to the fans and he means a lot to his team-mates.

"It sends out a good message from the club that they don't want to sell their best players and that they want to move forward and build something.

Smith does believe, however, that this could be Fabregas' last season at the Emirates.

He added: "How much longer he will be there remains to be seen but in the short-term it's great news.

"It's pretty obvious that he was set on going to Barcelona but Wenger has sat him down and maybe they've got an agreement where if Arsenal win something that might persuade him to stay in London, and if not he'll be able to go to the Nou Camp next summer."

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