Weekly Review: Week 25 ǀ Thiago vs. Cesc Fabregas ǀ Bojan to Roma ǀ Money in the Bank?

Not a week passes by that the casual is spared the latest round of Cesc to FC Barcelona madness. For the past couple of seasons, the obvious courting of Arsenal FC’s Cesc Fabregas only seems to gain momentum. But the man himself, Cesc Fabregas, is unusually reserved on that matter, for a player who seemingly wants to join his boyhood club. As Jose A. has explained in-depth in his latest article, there’s no reasonable explanation for FC Barcelona to pursue a transfer of Cesc Fabregas to Catalunya. At this point the only reason to sanction a Cesc transfer would be the high profile of such a transaction and the increase in shirt sales. Paying 40 million for a prospective benchwarmer? I thought splashing 49 million Euro on Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who started the majority of games in his only season in Barcelona, was madness.

But Sandro Rosell must be more of a Catalan nationalist than his predecessor, Joan Laporta. Both, Rosells and Pep Guardiola’s infatuation with FC Barcelona’s Catalan heritage/roots have hit new heights. FC Barcelona only needs a player who can deputize for Xavi and/or Iniesta in the upcoming season, right? Doesn’t La Masia’s golden boy, Thiago, fit the bill perfectly? But as Jose has argued, Thiago is rather unfortunate to not be of Catalan heritage. Other than that he is everything FC Barcelona could ask for in a player.

Someone who is convinced of Thiago’s undoubted qualities is, newly promoted Barca Blaugranes Editor, Arron Duckling. According to Arron, Thiago is superior to Arsenal FC’s Cesc Fabregas. Needless to say, he caused quite a stir. But if you ask me, at this point in time, FC Barcelona don’t need Cesc Fabregas, especially with Thiago Alcantara already in the squad. A transfer of Cesc Fabregas to FC Barcelona wouldn’t actually benefit either of one. Perhaps Cesc can win a trophy or two, something that has eluded him on club level for almost his whole Arsenal career. But is it really worth it to depart the Gunners when he’s just 24? Besides, if there’s any area that is covered, it’s FC Barcelona’s midfield. How about getting rid of some bit-part players, such as Bojan or the horrible Gabriel Milito?

Whereas Gabriel Miltio is still on the books of FC Barcelona, former wonderkid, Bojan, is poised to leave the Blaugrana for Luis Enrique’s AS Rome. Where did it go wrong for Bojan? In case you’re just as clueless as I, you should check out Andrés Ehrli’s debut article for Barca Blaugranes.

Another hot topic, the prospective transfer of Udinese’s Alexis Sanchez to FC Barcelona. A week has passed by and the Chilean international is still not a Blaugrana. This means FC Barcelona’s board of directors hasn’t signed off on the mega-transfer, which could very well turn out to be another debacle. Is it just me or do FC Barcelona are actively trying to repeat Real Madrid’s president Florentino Perez’s cardinal mistakes of pursuing attack-minded players and neglecting the defense altogether? FC Barcelona has been linked to every player that had a single decent game in the last season but almost none of these players are center-backs. Gabriel Milito is still a FC Barcelona player for crying out loud. The guy makes somewhere in the region of 4-5 million Euro and never plays the whole 90 minutes. Please, someone, sell him. Now!

And what about Jeffren? Where in the world will the once promising winger ply his trade in the next season? FC Barcelona seems intent on selling him. But it always takes two. What exactly made him believe he could dislodge any of FC Barcelona’s MVP (Messi, Villa, Pedro) trident in the first place? If there is indeed some sort of Spanish/Catalan conspiracy going on, then it’s the right time to leave. For his own career’s sake I do hope Jeffren will find a club that takes a chance with him.

Speaking of Spanish, tomorrow Barca Blaugranes will premiere a brand-new section for Spanish-written columns, San Lunes. If you fear I could try my hand at writing in Spanish, your worst fears are unfounded, I won’t actively participate in that. I’m not going to abuse the Spanish language. At least for the time being J

Ugh, I’m done. I’ve been abusing my laptop’s keyboard the whole week, working, dabbling in sportswriting and putting finishing touches on my book. The only thing I want to get my hands on is the remote of my TV.

Visca el Barça

Yours truly,

Sebastian

Join Barca Blaugranes and become members of our website or participate in our chat room on the front page. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Follow me on Twitter @JubeiKibagame