Wenger confident of keeping Fabregas

ARSENE WENGER sees no reason why captain Cesc Fabregas should not be at Arsenal for “many years”.

While Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson appears set to lose the services of disillusioned star striker Wayne Rooney sooner rather than later, Gunners boss Wenger intends to continue to fight tooth and nail to keep his talisman well past this season.

Fabregas, 23, was close to returning to his boyhood club Barcelona during the summer, only for Arsenal to stand firm as they rejected a £35 million (€39.5m) offer for the midfielder whom they have nurtured since he was 16.

The issue of just whether Fabregas would remain part of the team was one of the questions raised by shareholders to the manager during Arsenal’s annual general meeting yesterday.

Wenger, though, insists there is no reason to believe Fabregas, under contract until 2015, would not continue to be the mainstay of his side for the foreseeable future. “I convinced him to stay at this club,” the Arsenal boss said.

“It is a natural case of a player who loves this club – and he loves Arsenal deeply, believe me. If he did not love it, he would have gone. You also have to remember that Barcelona has an attraction, because he grew up there, but I believe he wants to win with this club. “For how long? You never know, but hopefully for many years.”