By Fab4.
Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has refused to be drawn on his future, instead taking a philosophical approach by saying ‘what will be will be’, whilst also claiming nothing more should be read into the Barca shirt incident other than a harmless prank.
Fabregas has been heavily linked with a return to Barcelona, where he spent 6 years as a youth player before Arsene Wenger persuaded him join Arsenal in 2003, and the Catalan club have made no secret of their desire to sign the Spanish midfielder and have already had a £29m offer turned down.
Rumours of a move were intensified after Barca defenders Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique, along with Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina, forced a Barcelona shirt on Cesc in-front of 200,000 people, as well as the worlds media, during Spain’s World Cup celebrations in Madrid on Monday night.
However, Fabregas has spoken out on the incident claiming he didn’t know it was going to happen and it was nothing but a simple practical joke.
“There are times we do not even know what we do, so everything can be forgiven,.
“Pepe took me there (to the front of the stage), the truth is that I didn’t know anything like that was going to happen and so I was a bit surprised.
“At first I thought it was a flag or something, but it’s nothing.
“You had to enjoy it and if it’s a way to have fun, it’s nothing.”
When asked about his future, Fabregas gave little away.
“I think now the less said about the subject much the better, because these things are worse for everyone when they come to light and people talk more about the matter,” added the 23-year-old.
“Right now we have to be very calm and what will be will be.”
I think it’s very easy for Cesc to say we should all just forget about it and it was harmless fun, but i think Puyol and Pique knew exactly what they were doing and showed a complete lack of respect for Arsenal FC. And as captain and a current employer of the club, i think Cesc should have said as much even if he didn’t mean it. A simple comment like “it was meant as a harmless joke, but i have told the lads it was in poor taste and they have told me that they meant no disrespect towards AFC and would like to apologise to everyone associated with Arsenal for any offense caused” would have done the trick.
But trying to shrug it off by saying ‘as long as it was fun its okay’ is simply naive. This ‘prank’ wasn’t done in the privacy of a hotel room it was done in front of 200,000 Spaniards and the whole world’s media, so it can’t be described as ‘nothing’ I’m afraid Cesc. You need to get hold of your ‘mates’ and let them know that kinda stuff isn’t on. Or you will completely alienate the Arsenal fans who have supported you for 7 years.
I felt sorry for him when i saw it, he looks embarrassed and i think he dealt with the situation at the time pretty well. He could hardly kick-off mid-celebrations or anything. So I’m not having a go, i just think he should be publicly supporting his current club more and not trying to brush the whole incident under the carpet without at least an apology to Arsenal and their fans.
