Guardiola: Gunners right to keep Cesc

BARCELONA coach Pep Guardiola believes Arsenal were right to hold onto Cesc Fabregas.

Barca made two bids to sign the 23-year-old midfielder, but Fabregas announced on Friday he was staying in north London.

And Guardiola said he would not have allowed Fabregas to leave either if he was in Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger’s position.

“I understand Arsenal and I understand Wenger, I wouldn’t have let him leave either,” he said after Barca concluded their Asian tour with a 3-0 win over Beijing Guoan yesterday.

“I just hope Cesc carries on enjoying what is such a special and competitive league, the Premier.”

Guardiola insists the failure to sign Fabregas will not alter his plans for the coming season.

“I’m not worried about those that aren’t here, it won’t affect any of our plans,” he said.

“The market is open until the end of the month and we will look to see what we can find, but there’s no hurry. We have a great squad to compete in all competitions and that is our objective once more.”

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger insisted the club’s strong financial position allowed them to resist Barca’s advances.

“He was torn,” Wenger admitted. “But I must say that during the whole period Cesc was remarkably respectful of Arsenal. He has never shown a lack of love for the club, and in the end we managed to hold on to him.

“What people do not realise is we can say no to anybody in the world because we are in a healthy financial situation.

“If we are £300 million in debt, we cannot keep our best players. People have to understand that we were strong with the Fabregas case because we are well managed. We could afford to be strong, we can afford to say no to any number, because we just feel we want to keep our best players.”

Meanwhile Wenger admits he is thinking about extending his contract with the club and almost certainly ending his managerial career at the Emirates Stadium.

The Frenchman accepts that, at 61, he only has one more long-term contract in him bearing in mind his stated intention to step down from management at the age of 65 and feels that if he was ever to leave Arsenal for a new challenge, it would have to be now, with one year remaining on his existing Arsenal contract.

However, he reassured Gunners fans that he has “no desire” to go anywhere else. Wenger told The Observer: “I am at a stage where if I extend my contract it means I will finish my career at club level at Arsenal. If I go for a different challenge – I have been offered many challenges, you know – it has to be now.

“That’s a decision I have to make. But basically, I have no desire to change from here. I have one more year, and we are maybe thinking about extending it.”

On the subject of stepping down from management at 65, Wenger added: “I cannot see my enthusiasm will drop, but I am not necessarily the same resistance physically as Alex Ferguson. At 65 I will move to a different job, unless I still feel like I feel today.”