Gazidis: No reason for Fabregas to leave

Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis insists “there is no reason to think” Cesc Fabregas would leave the north London club and return to his native Spain.

Fabregas has long been linked with a return to Barcelona but Gazidis, while refusing to guarantee the midfielder would be at the Emirates next season, believes the club are in a strong position with no indication the player will be on his way.

Talking to BBC Five Live’s Sportsweek programme, Gazidis said: “There’s no reason to think he would (leave) and another aspect is, because we have this sustainable business model, it gives us the strength to be able to say we don’t need to sell Cesc Fabregas to raise money and that’s a tremendously strong position to be in.

“Cesc is under a long-term contract. That gives us some real strength from which to operate and gave us the ability to keep him over the last summer.

“We didn’t have a financial imperative that meant we had to sell.”

However, Gazidis knows he cannot say for certain Fabregas will be at Arsenal on the first day of next season.

“I can’t look ahead that far, the game isn’t like that that you can predict which individual players will be there,” he added.

“I certainly hope Cesc will be. He’s our captain and is a very important part of the team, but right now we’re focused on this season and not on the first day of next season.”