Fab speaks out over future

A short but very intense interview with Cesc on Sky Sports News this morning, almost had my heart pounding over what he was going to say next. Cesc stated his love for Arsenal and pretty much said the situation is out of his hands. So we are now left in a situation where the ball is in our court, if we want to play ball with Barcelona then so be it, if not then we can keep the ball to ourselves and I Think Cesc would still love to be at Arsenal next season. It all depends on our desire to keep hold of Fabregas. Personally I think its time to show a bit of backbone and show we are no push-overs, but if they do come in with an extravagant bid then we shouldn't be fools. If I was the Arsenal board, I would accept nothing less than £50m, reports of Barca only offering £30m are scandalous and are way under value.

Another thing to look at will be Barcelona's finances. How the hell can they afford Cesc, or anyone else for that matter. I'm not sure how they managed to find the capital to sign Villa because of their current financial position. Reportedly £420m in debt, one wonders how they can afford to push themselves further into debt, because Barca's profits are not exactly mesmerizing. Reports suggest that Barcelona only made an £8m profit last year. Put that in comparison to Arsenal who last year made a profit of £35m. It almost seems like Barca are spending money that they don't have, I feel sorry for their bank manager.

Coming off of the Fabregas stories though, lets start with the news that another Spanish wonder kid is making his way to Spain. Fran Merida's long unresolved future at the club as finally been resolved. Fran will leave Arsenal to join Athletico Madrid on a free transfer. I feel sorry for Fran because he has played well when he has played but just hasn't been able to break into the first team. I would like to wish him the best of luck in Madrid.

Now to today's transfer rumour mill. Speculation is surrounding a new centre back after Sol Campbell issued his interest in a move to Celtic and William Gallas still hasn't signed a new contract. So names such as Pape Diakhate and Per Mertesacker have been thrown into the mix. It is Diakhate I'm going to blog about today.

Name – Pape Diakhate
Age – 25
Position – Centre Back
Nationality – Senegalese
Club – Dynamo Kiev

We played against Diakhate a few seasons ago in the Champions League, he impressed me and we have been linked with him for the past few seasons. He is a relative unknown, but from what I have seen from him he is very strong, quick and good in the air. He is a very strong tackler, but I personally doubt he will be good enough to partner Thomas Vermaelan at the back. Pape has never really played at the top level or for a top club, he has a couple of stints in the French Ligue One and a few seasons in the Champions League, but nothing that shouts great experience. Reports suggest an offer of £8m would see him come to Arsenal, I would much prefer to sign Per Mertesacker with that money personally.

Mr Arsenal Blog Prediction

Likeliness to come – 8/10
Value for money – 6/10
Chance of a deal – 5/10

Thanks for reading guys, have a good one.