First off, if I told a friend of mine to stop a behavior and they didn’t, I sure as heck wouldn’t be as friendly as Cesc has been towards them.

Do we actually know if Cesc and Xavi have talked in months? Most of the time he’s seemed to have been hanging out with RvP.

As for being loyal and committed, care to tell me where Captain Cesc was the last few games of last season? Away from the team. Last game of the year, he was at an auto race in Spain. Sorry, but you wouldn’t see any other captain in any EPL team or big euro clubs do that. Hell, if Vidic did that Sir Alex would have stuck his fist so far up his ass he’d been left cross-eyed.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Fabregas was given permission to go to an auto race in Spain, seeing as he had a thigh injury that kept him out of Spanish internationals. For the last game of the season, that was away, it’s not a big deal. It’s not like the Arsenal team decided to show up either.

Last…it was Barca who gave Cesc away for pant lint and spare buttons. It was Arsenal who gave him the keys to the team and trusted his talent to take them to higher places. The moment Cesc gets his head turned by his so-called friends and the club who left him on the curb for us to pick up, he completely slaps the hands of those who made him who he is. He never said "Barca should pay my value if they want me" or anything of the sort. Nothing. He sit idle and let Puyol, DERP and Pep talk about his DNA. No, I disagree with you, he could have made it public and kept things respectful but he didn’t.

How many players talk publicly about leaving? Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, Wayne Rooney, there are so many. Cesc Fabregas never said he wanted to leave. Of course we knew he did, but he never said anything, just about how great it is at Arsenal, etc. As far as I’m concerned, in the modern game, that’s pretty damn rare. Yeah, maybe he should’ve said Barca should pay my value, but that’s not his problem; he’s not involved in the evaluating process.

He showed his true colors and in the end, he will never be remembered among the greats who played for the Arsenal.

Do you consider Liam Brady a great? If so, Cesc is. Same time; same amount of silverware. Same left for Europe. Cesc was the better player.

Frankly, I don’t understand why he wouldn’t want to leave for Barca. They have the highest wage bill in the world (although City is quickly catching them), they’ve been the most successful club in the world recently, and Cesc has family in that region. Most players from any club would have their hearts set on a move if Barca came calling…with the exception of maybe Real or United I don’t think anyone can offer the total package that they can. He was quiet about his desire to leave, which IMO showed a ton of respect for Arsenal.

There is also the question of Arsenal’s loyalty towards their players. They’ve made it pretty clear in the recent past that they value what you can do on the field at present over what you’ve done for the club. Guys like Henry and Vieira being sold is what opened up the opportunity for Cesc to kick start his career, and the club hasn’t really done anything that should convince him that he’d be any different as he hit his late 20’s. I can’t fault the club at all for those sales as they were all very intelligent moves, but you can’t really complain about player loyalty as a club if you constantly let your legends go when they begin to decline. That knife cuts both ways so to speak.

Most fans wouldn’t get up in arms if an Everton player was quietly pushing for a move to Arsenal, it’s a good career move and just makes sense for the player. This is the same type of thing. Arsenal is a big club, but I don’t think anyone can make a case that they’re going to offer Cesc both the money and quality teammates that he’ll have in Barca.

The only thing that bothers me is that Barca was pretty shitty throughout this whole ordeal. They knew the desires of the player, and constantly went out of their way to ensure this was front and center in the media. They caused the fanbase to be uneasy, which in turn probably put undue pressure on the Arsenal board to do anything to end the saga. I’ve lost enough respect for that club that I’d even cheer for Liverpool to beat them if they met at any point (and I’m not an Arsenal fan). I really can’t say I’ll look at Cesc any differently though, as in his shoes I’d probably be looking at the opportunity Barca presents and wanting to leave as well.