I can fill Vieira’s shoes, says Fabregas
With just a few weeks of the transfer window remaining, manager Arsene Wenger has yet to sign a direct replacement for his long-time enforcer.
In Belarussian Alexander Hleb, a £10m arrival from Stuttgart, Wenger at least has a versatile squad member who can play in the middle, but the 24-year-old cannot be expected to step seamlessly into the Vieira mould.
Brazilian Julio Baptista opted for Real Madrid ahead of north London because he wanted to stay in Spain, while the chance of Arsenal persuading Chelsea’s long-term target Michael Essien, at Lyon, to choose them ahead of a lucrative switch to Stamford Bridge looks slim at best.
Bastia’s 18-year-old Alexandre Song is another linked with a £2m move, while Wenger has long been an admirer of Newcastle midfielder Jermaine Jenas and Michael Carrick, at West Ham. But with the traditional curtain-raiser of the Community Shield against the Premiership champions in Cardiff just days away, it looks increasingly likely Wenger will turn to his own young Gunners this weekend, especially given Brazilian Gilberto Silva is still short of match fitness.
And Fabregas, whom impressed last season, is ready to step up again should the manager call on his services.
“I had a good rest during in the summer and I feel ready for the new season,” said the 18-year-old Spaniard.
“There will be expectation, but all I can do is what you always do - try my best and just try to play my game. I have all the confidence for the team. If I am wanted, I will be okay to play against Chelsea on Sunday.”
The Arsenal midfielder, though, is all too aware of how influential Vieira was to the side.
“Patrick is an unbelievable person, and as a footballer as well - but we have to keep going. He was our captain and it will be difficult, of course. But I think it is challenge for the young players as well and we will try to replace him,” the midfielder added.
Meanwhile, Wenger refused to be drawn into a war of words with Chelsea, after their chief executive Peter Kenyon claimed the winners of the Premiership this season would come “from a small bunch of one.”
The Frenchman said: “Everybody can say what they want. Football is full of statements - and if you pick them out after, you have many surprises.
“Yes, I feel we are in contention for the league - why should we not be? We have lost one player, and gained one player,” Wenger said.
Gunners captain Thierry Henry added: “I think we will be around, Manchester United too. We also now have the European champions in our league, and I would like them to challenge too,” the striker said. “I think it is more interesting if you have five or six teams in the race.
“So I just hope for the sake of the league, and of English football, that we are going to have a great competition next year, to create even more trouble for Chelsea.”
Henry’s deal at Arsenal runs until June 2007, and under those current terms, the Frenchman would be free to negotiate an overseas move six months before then, should the Gunners not have already signed him up on a new, long-term contract.
For the moment, though, the 27-year-old is concentrating on the forthcoming campaign in which he will lead the team as captain following the departure of Vieira to Juventus.
“I have played under Tony [Adams] and under Patrick, and if I can be a mix of the two then that would be good,” he said.
“When you are a skipper, the most difficult thing is to have the respect of your team-mates. Let’s hope that can be the case and we can all pull together.” Henry, however, accepts the sale of Vieira leaves a “massive hole” in the club, but one which, eventually, can be filled.
“The guy was an amazing player. When he was on his day, he could carry the team on his own in the middle of the park - he was just amazing.”
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