07.08.2010 12:20
“It’s bad news for sporting and sentimental reasons”
David Saura (special correspondent)
With Cesc Fabregas finally committing himself to Arsenal for this season yesterday, Club Vice President Josep Maria Bartomeu spoke of his feelings about the decision: “it’s bad news for sporting and sentimental reasons”.
Sr Bartomeu insisted that he respected both Arsenal and Fabregas’ decision and also threw
light on the club’s efforts to bring the Catalan player back home this summer: “we made
two offers: one in June and another at the beginning of August, but Arsenal didn’t want to
sell him and they didn’t accept our offers. They didn’t put a price on him, they just
declared he was not for sale”.
“Reasonable offer”
Bartomeu, who explained that President Rosell had been in direct contact
throughout the negotiations, explained that the offer was just less than 40 million Euros, as the
club made clear in a
note
published on Friday: “we made a reasonable offer, a common sense amount, but they
just said ‘no’. There was no mention of a counter offer. If Arsenal had wanted to sell,
Cesc was more than willing”.
Matter closed for this summer
Asked if the club was disappointed at their failure to sign Cesc,
Bartomeu responded: “it’s bad news for sporting and sentimental reasons. The current
board found ourselves dealing with a club, Arsenal, who were angry at Barca”, he continued,
though he stressed that relations between the two clubs had been repaired and he didn’t rule
out another bid next summer: “what is certain is that the Cesc saga is over for this
summer”.
Alternatives to Cesc
So what is the alternative to Cesc? The reporters asked Bartomeu: “first we’ll
look at the B team and then we’ll take a decision. We never start from scratch; the club is
always working on these things”.
International call ups
Bartomeu also expressed himself: “very surprised” at the decision to call up
7 Barca players
into the Spanish squad for next week, but, “we have to accept it. I think we have
enough players to be competitive on August 14th and to go out and try to win”.
Loan deals
As for the loan deals for Hleb, Cáceres and Víctor Sánchez, who
Guardiola has made clear he won’t be counting on for next season, Bartomeu explained:
“we are talking to a few clubs about loaning them out. There are different options and we are
looking at what is best for the club and the players”.