Cesc: The Transfer Saga of Comeuppance.

By: chris | October 13th, 2009

article-1071070-02EE75D600000578-913_468x428 As it stands, Barcelona are the darling of the football world. They’re brilliantly effective and alluringly stylish. They have likable players, the best in the world even, and a young, vibrant, passionate maestro at the helm. They’re even financially prudent, what with only spending €66m or so on Zlatan and €25m on Dmitryo Chygrynskiy in the offseason, a pittance compared to bestest friends Real Madrid.

And now they’re taking on another role as agents of vengeance once again, a role the batmen of Valencia do not take seriously enough.

With Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka in Madrid, Zlatan in Barcelona and Lionel Messi going precisely nowhere, the prime meat for saucy summer sagas is lacking a bit. Fortunately Cesc and his former employers are back on a path to reconciliation, one formerly taken by Gerard Pique and fellow Englishmen Manchester United.

“He is a player with the Barca profile. He was born here, breathing football. One day, he will end up playing at the Nou Camp, I’m sure.”

Make no mistake: ‘one day’ is not so far away. At least that’s how the Barca braintrust feel.

There is, however, a slight chance that Arsenal, with Cesc wrapped up well into the beyond, will not take to this kindly. Cue saga. A saga involving perhaps the biggest posterboy for youth poaching, along with his former employer.

Is this will be our summer, our spring – perhaps even the winter. The constant quotes in the press, the incessant suggestion that it’s blaugrana blood which is pumping through Cesc’s Catalan veins, the teetering of ethics, of right and wrong. Barcelona will take to the abolition of poaching with another poach. At a premium, of course – €50m or so one should suspect.

And this will be the only way, until FIFA, UEFA and friends figure out a way to quash the practice. Barcelona, darlings of football, will don the cape to fight another good fight and will show us what is today the only way to right the wrongs of youth poaching: another wrong and a whole lot of money.

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Category: Spain La Liga

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zgambo

until someone remembers how barca got messi, complaining about how arsenal got cesc is baseless. as already pointed out, barca did not at the time think cesc was good enough for them, if they think he is now (eveidenced by the noise) they should be able to pay his going market value- nothing to do with how arsenal got him IMO.
anon

Can i point out that arsenal took cesc for a few thousand pounds, had 6 years and counting out of him (3 of them being truly world class standards) and could sell him for upwards of £50 million. Now i dont know about you but that is what i call good management.

Btw, it must gall barca that they have no choice but to buy a player they raised through their youth system for so much money looool.
GunnerTill ManCityLookABetterB

Of course, this saga will continue as long as lazy twats like the authour regurgitate the crap out of the baseless storuies.

Barca are an arrogant bunch of twats, as Real are.

They are using Cesc as a pawn in their macho bullshit media chess game/

Real have splashed the cash and got Ronaldo and Kaka, while barca, had to waste a huge amount on a show pony likie Zlatan to appease their big name hungry glory hunting fans. Eto'o was sold, leaving the team weaker.

Now cesc is being used by both clubs. barca are using the catalan DNA b*llocks for all they can, basically it is emotional black mail.

For me, it is not a certainty Cesc will go and in fact all the crap Barca are pumping into the press and the constant questioning by Catalan hacks may work against Barca.
potter

The point neatly being swept under the carpet is that at the time Barcelona were stalling on offering Cesc a contract because of his size. In fact they wanted him to spend another year at their academy before making a decision. ( check back issues of El Mundo Deportivo if you can find them. ) a classic case of the biter being bit.
OhYes

Yep Arsenal is getting a bucket-load of money for poaching Cesc from the Barca academy..and they have the nerve to complain about it! What a bunch of crap.
Ryan McManus

blah blah blah... all I ever hear about is how Barca is somehow morally superior to other clubs.
Diane

Not to be too partial to Barca, or too supportive of nauseating, and parity-shattering, conspicuous player consumption. But offering what will certainly be a hefty transfer fee to another club and possibly heftier contract to its 22 year old player, is a little different than getting a 16 year old player on a free transfer straight out of another team's youth academy.

Morality in football (make that all sports) goes out the window when power and profit are concerned but, even so, morality can be somewhat relative. Obviously, I'm less concerned about any club's interests than the age of the players either being asked to make these decisions or, more likely, having them made for them.

(And doesn't it still blow your mind that Cesc is only 22?)