United’s Fab offer rebuffed
The Manchester United manager has lodged a £26 million (€30m) bid for the former Arsenal skipper, who has failed to secure a regular starting slot at the Catalan giants.
Yet he has made 96 appearances in his two seasons at the Camp Nou, and the initial reaction from Barcelona is they are not interested in parting with the 26-year-old.
“The player is not transferable,” a source said yesterday.
Such words are not always the signal that a transfer is impossible.
In this instance though, it appears Fabregas has no desire to leave his hometown club.
“I’ve always said that I’m happy at Barca,” Fabregas said last month. “Whoever says that I’m leaving doesn’t know me and has never spoken with me.
“Nor with my agent, because he knows that I don’t want him to talk with other people about me. I’m very private and I don’t even talk about these things with my family. If someone says anything that isn’t that I want to play at Barca, it’s completely absurd.”
However, after his outstanding eight-year stint at Arsenal, which came to an end in 2011, Fabregas may conclude he is better placed to expand his medal collection by joining United as opposed to his former club — who have first refusal on him — if he concludes his time at the Nou Camp is over.
That is by no means certain though. Having seen Thiago Alcantara join Bayern Munich, Fabregas may think he still has a future at Barcelona despite the competition provided by Xavi, Andres Iniesta and now Neymar.
Yet, like Thiago, Fabregas also knows his place in the Spain squad for next summer’s World Cup will be at risk if he does not feature regularly at club level. And he must know, given the state of United’s midfield, he would be one of the key men at Old Trafford.
Having lost Paul Scholes to retirement, continuing doubt over the career of Darren Fletcher and a belief amongst fans Brazilian Anderson will never fulfil the promise that earned him a big money move from FC Porto in 2007, Moyes has already confirmed he requires additional competition for Michael Carrick and Tom Cleverley.
The development adds a bit of extra spice to the second leg of United’s pre-season tour in Sydney. After Saturday’s surprise defeat in Bangkok, Robin van Persie and David de Gea have arrived to bolster Moyes’s squad.
Van Persie is particularly important given Danny Welbeck is the only orthodox front-man on the trip.
However, De Gea will be looking to build on an outstanding second season at Old Trafford, which led to him being voted on to the PFA team of the year.
“He came on leaps and bounds in the second part of the season,” said former Red Devils skipper Bryan Robson.
“He has matured, put a stone on in weight and strengthened up.
“He knows what the Premier League is all about now and I can only see him improving.”
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