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Friday, July 16, 2010

Fabregas to stay at Arsenal this season - Barca are broke

Cesc Fabregas is now very likely to stay at Arsenal as Barcelona admitted they may have to wait until next year to try to prise him away from Arsenal.


Barca had a reported 35million euro bid for the 23-year-old midfielder turned down by the Gunners earlier this summer, but despite this the bookmaker odds about Fabregas making the switch to the Spanish champions had dropped to as short as 1/20 at the beginning of June.

Continued gassip and gabble from Barcelona players and officials attempting to "tap-up" Fabregas continued throughout the World Cup and took another twist during the country's World Cup celebrations when Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique jokingly forced a Barcelona shirt over him.

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell now admits that there are currently no talks between the two sides over a deal for the Gunners captain, who was in their youth system but moved to North London at the age of 16.

Rosell said to Catalan TV3. "They don't want to listen to offers or sell and they are not putting the player (Fabregas) on the market. There was a strong dispute a few months ago and they have not forgotten it.". In an attempt to save face - having run for Barcelona's presidency by promising Fabregas's transfer to Barcelona - Rosell continued "Fabregas will arrive, even if it is not now, it will be next year. We will see."

Bookmakers and betting exchanges have immmediately reacted by pricing Fabragas at around 2/1 (3.00) to move now - reflecting the humiliating public backdown from Rosell.

Of course, the underlying message is that Barcelona are now broke, despite all the success on the field, the excessive wages and transfer fees have put the club 400 million Euros in debt during the last seven years.

Barca have had to loan 150 million euros to pay wages and fund operations during the close season and simply cannot afford the 60-70 million euros that Fabregas is worth.

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