If they stayed....(Nasri & Fabregas)?

[Ollie the Optimist]

I can only speak for myself but this fan is of the opinion that Fabregas has as much if not more repair work to do than Nasri. If nothing else, he is the club captain.

i disagree purely because we all know cesc will go back to barca, if it wasnt for barca being cunts of the highest order he would have gone now.

nasri has more because he had a good three months of all his time here yet thinks he is the best, fans need to see players give their all for the season, not demand more money or hold us to ransom. nasri is, cesc isnt

[Power n Glory]

It's great news if they stay. The club and Wenger would have shown some backbone and we'd keep two of our best players.

With Nasri, I'd only be happy if he signed a new contract and stayed. No running your contract down type of bollocks.

[Boss]

Would be ecstatic because they're both genuine / potentially world class players and there's no way we're going to replace them with similar quality.

As for attitudes, they can easily be fixed, the problem is Wenger won't make the right moves to fix them.

[Ollie the Optimist]

It's great news if they stay. The club and Wenger would have shown some backbone and we'd keep two of our best players.

With Nasri, I'd only be happy if he signed a new contract and stayed. No running your contract down type of bollocks.

what would people feel if wenger said to nasri, sign a new contract with your wages increased for one season, then we will sell you. he gets his money, we get his fee

[Power n Glory]

what would people feel if wenger said to nasri, sign a new contract with your wages increased for one season, then we will sell you. he gets his money, we get his fee

That's what I've been saying from the start. Give him his wages and tell him he has to earn every penny or he's out. I'd be okay with that as well.

[Kano]

what would people feel if wenger said to nasri, sign a new contract with your wages increased for one season, then we will sell you. he gets his money, we get his fee

firstly i'd love to keep them both as they are both very good players.

for the scenario above, it would never ever happen, as he wouldn't risk being tied into a contract and then being told next season 'you're going nowhere'. all he has to do is look at the cesc or modric situation. if we can get a good season out of nas then lose him for nowt, i wouldn't be too bothered.

[IBK]

The question I have is whether either one has truly "lost faith". I am a cynic in this case and believe that a lot is both financial and agent/adviser driven.

If Fabregas' desire to play for Barcelona was truly emotional homesickness based, he would put in a transfer request and put an end to our misery. No one would begrudge him the desire and many would applaud his conviction. As he has not put in the request which would cost him 2 or 3 million - he loses the signing fee that is payable to him - suggests that this is driven by money. He knows that he will spend more time on the bench than starting for the next 3 or 3 years. It is easy money for him.

With regard to Nasri, he has just come off a a career half-season. I suspect that his advisers have said that Fabregas is going and that he is going to have to carry the team during a very tough transition season. He is looking to cash in on the "reputation" before the possible Arsenal demise drags his value down.

A very interesting post, TG.

I agree. I think that we can safely say that both situations are principally agent driven. I do think that there might be a kernel of truth somewhere re cesc's 'homesickness'. But he was ambivalent about his 'dream' when he came to Arsenal, and has undoubtedly benefitted from that decision. I think the 'emotional' issue is far more likely to be an understandable desire to be in the team touted as the best ever - that would exist whether that team was Real Madrid; Bayern Munich or Porto.

But my theory is that the PR/agency aspect for Fabregas is dressing this desire up as a desire to return to his hometown - because that sounds less disloyal. Can we blame the player? Well I don't share your antipathy. The saga has been protracted, yes. But is this down to Fabregas - or is it down to a Barcelona management who have made it thus by simply failing to make an offer we can't refuse? I'd say the latter. And I'd say that the saving grace for Fabregas is that at least he has given us many years of loyal service. That is not a total excuse - after all he owes much to the club. But set against the modern standard set by the likes of Rooney; Tevez; Robinho - for me Cesc is not the worst of offenders.

IMO Nasri is a different matter. I agree with your analysis of what is driving his behaviour - and on the one hand its understandable that he sees this as his shot at the big time. As Adebayor; Flamini and Hleb did before him. But what I don't like about Nasri is that it is more calculated and opportunist even than his predecessors. He refused to negotiate a contract extension last Summer - when he had not exactly set the world alight - and is looking to hold the club to ransom this Summer - on the back of just 4 months' performances that justify the kind of money he wants. At least Adebayor gave us a more or less a season. Nasri's move suggests strongly that he only ever came to us as a stepping stone, or to raise his profile - and to exploit the very first occasion on which he showed some form. So for me he is at the cutting edge of the modern football mercenary movement - yet unlike his fellow ground breaker, Rooney, he doesn't even have the 'decency' to give the club anything before baring his teeth. He is the difference between a woman that you meet in a bar, buy champagne all night and then take home for great sex, and a 3 minute lap dance.

Which is why, if he stays, fans might feel 'relieved' that we have held on to him - but he will never IMO be regarded with any fondness by the fans. And I don't think he gives a damn, either.

[Flavs]

How would you feel?

No problem with Fabregas, lot of respect for him and he's a world class player. Nasri is a greedy she-male who can FOAD, no offence like

[Power n Glory]

I've been harsh with Nasri in the past, he is a bit overrated and hides like a little bitch during key moments but I'll say this in his defence. When he first joined, maybe Wenger promised silverware and said we're a club going somewhere. A club with ambition that is looking develop world class talent and build a powerhouse team that will dominate Europe. When he first signed, we must have made out that this was the place to be.

We haven't won anything and over the last two seasons we've buckled when coming close to winning something. Second, Nasri isn't a winger and prefers playing in the middle. Wenger insists on playing on the flanks where he isn't that effective and that must also be pissing him off.

There are two sides to every story and the greedy mercenary type doesn't add up with his past record at Marseille or his interviews. In real life, I'd never stay with a company that pays low wages, has me working in a department that doesn't suite my skills and has no ambition to expand or evolve as a business, and last but not least, a place where the costumer's complain about how the companies run and even your colleagues are complaining about the place and there is a higher than average staff turnover rate. Why would I want to stay with such a company and commit another 4 years of my life to a lost cause?

[selassie]

what would people feel if wenger said to nasri, sign a new contract with your wages increased for one season, then we will sell you. he gets his money, we get his fee

I've got a feeling this will happen. I think this is what happened last season with Cesc and until Barca meet our valuation he will have to stay here.

Hopefully if Nasri signs his new deal and has a storming season we can sell him for a small fortune next summer, that would be the best scenario for all involved.