Cesc: Money can't buy our potential

Not for sale: Cesc Fabregas believes the Arsenal approach of buying young talent as opposed to big-name stars will soon start to pay off

James Olley|Sports Correspondent

13 April 2012

At the dawn of a new era where Manchester City's Arab billions have taken the levels of investment in football to unprecedented levels, there are some who fear the game's protagonists have lost sight of the values that made the sport great.

Those who feel that way should take comfort in the ideals of Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

Roman Abramovich broke the mould in 2003 by investing heavily in Chelsea to the tune of more than £500million and despite buying a plethora of players, there was always a feeling - at least publicly - that the club wanted to try to avoid looking like it was buying success.

Although the Blues broke the British transfer record in paying AC Milan £30.8m for Andriy Shevchenko, then the best striker in Europe, and promised Michael Ballack half of west London in return for a move to Stamford Bridge, they never otherwise prised the biggest stars away from their clubs.

City are different. Having gazumped Chelsea to the £32.4m signing of Robinho from Real Madrid, the Abu Dhabi United Group are perfectly willing to let the rest of the footballing world know they are ready to pay whatever for whoever, regardless of reputation.

There has already been talk of a mind-boggling £135m swoop for Fabregas, Liverpool's Fernando Torres and Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo with money-no-object wages and bonuses. The Arabs paid the Robinho money in one lump sum - unheard of in these days of staged payments - to show that they mean business.

So how do you react when you are one Europe's very best being offered unprecedented sums?

"You do nothing, really," said the 21-year-old. "Football every time is more like that. We have to accept it - I am lucky to be at a club like Arsenal. The style of the team is really important.

"They prefer to trust in young players and not spend big money. They can pay whatever they want but the reality is the truth. We are happy with what we have got. At the moment, we don't look for what other clubs do. We are just happy the way are."

Fabregas's humble outlook extends to the team, where much of this summer's talk around the club centred on who he would partner Arsenal in midfield.

The departure of Mathieu Flamini and Gilberto Silva appeared to leave the Gunners short of a midfield enforcer to enable Fabregas to ply his trade further forward. The club have historically had a more regimented player to provide a steel to the midfield - the likes of Patrick Vieira, Edu and Emmanuel Petit have performed that role with aplomb.

But since becoming Arsenal's youngest ever Carling Cup player back in 2003, Fabregas has grown to become the dominant figure in any midfield pairing for the club and dismissed the idea he needs a certain type of player alongside him to be fully effective.

"I will adapt to whatever I have got - I have been playing with Patrick, Edu, Gilberto, Flamini and now Denilson and they are all so different - none of them are similar to each other," said the Spaniard, speaking at the launch of Gameloft's Real Football 2009.

"We adapt every time well. I will do that again - it is not the same as with Flamini, because he was running everywhere and you could see he was more defensive and I could go forward. Maybe this time with Denilson it is more a case of me doing more as we have the same type of game. So maybe we have to compensate and I have defend more.

"I don't mind because I am happy with that. I have seen in parts and aspects of my game things that maybe last year or two years ago I could not do and this year I am doing it, especially defensively, so I am really happy with that."

Still only 21, it is astonishing to think that while Fabregas is considered one of the best midfielders in Europe he has at least five years before he approaches anywhere near his peak. The Catalan-born star came through the Arsenal ranks since leaving Barcelona aged just 16 and knows more than most what it takes to make the grade at the Emirates.

The Gunners' next generation, featuring Carlos Vela and Jack Wilshere, could barely have been more impressive in demolishing Sheffield United 6-0 in the Carling Cup on Tuesday and Fabregas believes there is nothing these young guns can't achieve.

He said: "Tuesday was sensational. Everyone played their part and they were fantastic. You could not say there was anyone who played better than the others, because they were 10 men all together.

"There were 56,000 fans at the stadium, and they were really entertained. It does not surprise me or the rest of the team because we play with them in training every day and we know what they can do - [players like] Denilson and Alex Song. I am only 21, Gael Clichy looks 30 and he is only 23!

"We all hope we can all keep progressing-With this manager, you know if you play well you will be in the team, so it is up to us to do it.

"I hope this can turn out to be that, the greatest generation. There is definitely the potential in this side to do that, because we are so young."

Perhaps youthful exuberance enthused by the right footballing ideals can be the perfect antidote to the buy now, pay (for it) later mentality of the modern game.

Real Football 2009 is available as of September 2008 for mobile phones and iPhones, and will be available in November 2008 for Nintendo DS.

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