Barcelona: A lone crab
By Ann O’Gram – our girl on the spot
On this fine and sunny day Bar Bar Barcelona have announced that they intend to make one more push to sign Cesc Fábregas (with an accent) before the transfer windows pings shut at the end of the month.
The local paper “Sport” is currently running two stories. The first says that Ibrahimovic is being sold by Barca to WC Milan and the money is to be used to get Cesc from Arsenal before August 31st. The second article says that Wenger admits that Cesc will go to Barca, and that he (Cesc) has Barca in his soul, and that Wenger has already concluded a deal.
Although just the latest in a long stream of nonsense from the Barcelona based press, it is a clever piece in that it admits (for the first time ever) that Barca are not made of money and that some sort of financial reality exists within the club. This much of course we know given that the club failed to pay its players earlier in the summer.
This news of financial collapse has been rigorously censored by club within the local press, through the efficient use of a D Notice system which effectively bans commentary in the region’s papers about these problems.
In fact the sale of Ibrahimovic is essential to Barca to ensure that the banks will loan extra money to the near bankrupt club will be able to pay the players in August. There is nothing in the coffers to buy Cesc.
So, what then is the reason for this bizarre and eccentric story?
As always the actions of Barcelona are controlled by their need to manage propaganda. It is vital to Barca that the news that they are effectively bust, and have no clear way out of their financial problems, is kept from the local population. Secondly, they need to counter the endless stories in the Madrid press that Barca cannot hold on to their own children. The Real Madrid will never leave this one alone, so Barca need an answer.
Barca do have an answer of sorts in that Real Madrid’s record of late in that Real Mad’s Champions’ League record is awful for a club that spends so many trillions of pounds a week on players…
- 2005 = Champs League 2nd Round
- 2006 = Champs League 2nd Round
- 2007 = Champs League 2nd Round
- 2008 = Champs League 2nd Round
- 2009 = Champs League 2nd Round
- 2010 = Champs League 2nd Round
Indeed despite a budget eight trillion times higher than Arsenal’s they seem to have a penchant for getting knocked out in the same place each year. Quelle domage as they say in New Zealand.
Still Real Ma are nothing if not consistent – and this is the trait that Barca have decided to copy. They will say they are about to sign Cesc this week, last week, next week, and the week before.
So back to Barca, and what this story has nothing to do with is any sort of actual transfer or even whether Barcelona will make a further bid for the player, but rather how long they can keep going without a massive cash injection – and if they do get that cash injection where on earth it will come from?
No one quite knows the answer to either question – and in fact so demented is the club that it doesn’t even know what the question means. What is clear is that there really is no obvious way of increasing their income. They already own the TV rights to their own games, they can’t win any more than they won the season before last, and they can’t really increase the match day revenue. They don’t have the capital to rebuild the crumbling bits of their stadium, and even in the triple season they didn’t sell out every game because of the quality of the ground in parts. And no one is willing to lend them the capital to do the job.
Which is why selling players is all they can do.
And that’s another clue to the Cesc story – they have to cover up the fact that Barca is now the world’s biggest selling club.
And (once more and) at a time when Real Madrid is continuing to buy, buy and buy (and when you look at who the manager of Real Madrid is these days, there can be no doubt that a load of money is on the table) there is a need for news story management, and with a press that is utterly compliant with the whims of the club, the story will always get out as Barca want it to.
It did look at one time as if Barca would run with the story that they would buy Fábregas (with an accent) in January “by which time Arsenal will be out of the title race and Cesc will be ready to come to us.” But with the financial stories endlessly knocking on the door it has been necessary for the club to divert attention for the moment.
We can expect the Fábregas (with an accent) in January story to remerge shortly however.
Barcelona? Just a lone crab.
All Untold Arsenal reporting of Barcelona reaches the same high standards of journalistic competence as that found in the region’s local press.
not quite sure that is actually 8.2 trillions… and I though Quelle domage was french…. sarcacism??
Did they say what year?
Quelle domage
Quelle domage
Quelle domage
although if you analysed what they could afford at the top table perhaps
a lone carb….?
Yes I think sarcasm is part of the game here. After all that Barca have done to us over the past year it is the very least we can do.
Tony
I just couldn’t resist, I tried, but the urge was too great
Barcelona =
Arable con, O balancer or my favourite lo’ bra acne….
Barceloanus however gives us these gems…
balance or us?, crab and louse!, anal cub sore!, and my favourite… our base clan..
enjoyed that, sorry if off topic, found myself with a
casual boner….lol
It seems Barca are now trying the same thing with Hodgson and Liverpool. I hope they stay as strong as we did.
The difference Paul C. is that ‘pool need the money, we don’t.
Passenal – you are absolutely right on that one.
quell fromage!
I always had Barca at heart, but now I lost even the little respect I held for it prior to 2010 due to this Fabregas saga. I surely expected better from them, but they just crab!
How about, as we at Arsenal are such nice chaps and are awash with dosh, lending Barceloana some cashola, provided they let us have Messi as security.
Your criticism of Mourinho is unwarranted. He hasn’t bought Marquee names at a huge price. Yes he did raise the pitch on Cole,Drogba and many others but that was probably to get his real targets to drop their prices.
From a top coach you have to expect this, he will always go to clubs with money.Where do you expect him to go – Wigan ?!!
Next it’ll probably be Man United – Do you think he’ll refuse if they refuse to offer him money for transfers.
That was inaccurate on your part.
Great article, great comments, this can only be Untold Arsenal. 🙂
And at a moment in time when even I feel a bit nervous, but more about that tomorrow.
Not this season, but by next season Cesc should be leaving. But still we can hope that if Arsenal win the premier league this season, then we could still retain his services for another year. I think the reason why Jack Wilshere is played in our starting line up is that arsenal are tryin to get him prepared to replace Cesc. Anyways it would be a great shame to see our best player of last 5 years to go. Lets hope for the best.
Barcelona could be right- Cesc could transfer to Inter by 31st-once Inter are repaid the money owed by Barcelona for Ibra.
Who knows what the impact of the relentless Barca campaign on Cesc’s motivation to play for us will have been?
Anything is possible- anything except Barca getting him for half what he is worth.
i think the whole barca fiasco is because of jose.
they are shitting their pants and are fucked badly. cause they know ronaoldo is going to fuck them with jose power. the team has huge amount of players already. jose got rid of dead weight in the club of raul and guti. he has got his fav. carvalho. and is making them more solid.
last year they lost the league with just 3 points without jose being around. this year barca are going to get fucked…. they are in massive panic mode. imagine the money they will lose with not winning everything there is to win. which is what is going to happen. they are really worried. i am soo looking for jose to win the league.
Good article, Ann,
It would appear that the press in other countries print hat they want to and not the truth. They really are a load of tuncs (my favourite anagram).
Let’s hope that the truth comes out and a lone crab admit to not being able to afford Cesc Fábregas (with a tildé, not an accent, now come on, be factual). 😉
Should have said “print what”, although printed hats are all the rage in Brace Nola.
Mourinho Fan – just maybe the comment is about ‘TSO’s penchant for his own high wages!!
I’m not sure which is better, the press in spain or the press in the UK. In my humble opinion they are both horrible, biased, unprofessional and shallow.
It’s very interesting to see what will happen now with Barca (and also Real) with the financial fair play thing, plus the spanish economy in the background …
Hopefully the fact that we managed to stay financially balanced in the last few years plus building the Ems at that time (helping us increase revenu) – means that we are far better suited for the new football world of the upcoming years.
@Darkprince, if by any chance the teams goes for some throphies this season, I bet Fab will still be here next season.
ho and I mean “by any chance” I feel we have all the weapons to go for it, faith
just a suggestion why don’t u guys start something like great commentator of the week…???(not joking)
But who in Barcelona,s team will gladly relinquish his place/position for Cesc ;could it be Xavi,or Iniesta ,maybe Messi ,even Pedro or Bojan ,who exactly as Cesc won,t want to warm the bench game after game or come on as a substitute in evey match,so who then ?
Mourinho fan-what at Chelsea? 200m GBP in 12 months- the man spent money like others drink water. He bought a complete team. Its his method- he’s never long enough in one place to grow his own. Mourinho can craft a winning team out of good players- but it is a boring winning team based on strong defence