On paper, Khedira or Fabregas seems like a silly question. It’s Fabregas, right? The former Arsenal captain is pretty good at football, he knows the league, he loves the club, and any gooner would love the prospect of him coming back, coming home. Like many others that have fled for greener pastures, he has unfinished business. Flamini saw the light, and it worked out okay for him. Maybe Fabregas senses that too. Is he happy at Barcelona? How much fun is it being booed by your home country and team, after all the fuss they made to snatch him away? Utter madness. We’re talking about one of the greatest creative midfielders. Arsenal have never been in better shape, and if you add Fabregas to that shape, it’ll mould into a new and greater level. The thought of Cesc, Ramsey, and Ozil running our midfield is exhilarating. Imagine that. Would another midfield rival it?
The pros of Fabregas are clear. There’s the obvious sentimental value. Re-signing him would electrify the club, much in the same way Mezut Ozil did. These are the players that install fear in other teams, the kind of players that reach for the summit. It’s no secret that Arsenal’s grip on the league title weakened, and inevitably fell away once the seasonal injury crisis kicked in. It keeps happening every season. At some point, someone’s got to stop and think, hang on, what if Ramsey picks up another injury? Who was there last time? Wilshere. Then he got injured. And after Wilshere? We know it’s going to happen next year, so why don’t we do something about? The shoes left by Ramsey mid-season proved too big to fill. Having Fabregas would solve that. The rotation would improve. It would be stronger, the team fresher. Fresh players play better. Just ask Giroud.
Similar to Fabregas, in age, quality, experience, and the postion he’d likely play in our midfield, is Real Madrid’s Sami Khedira, described as a dynamic German midfielder, often deployed in a box to box role, but more than capable of sitting in front of a back four. The fact that Ancelotti slotted Khedira straight back into the starting line up following a lengthy injury lay off, and in the champions league final no less, can only suggest how highly the German midfielder is rated. Yet to sign a contract extension, the fee being thrown around is £15 million, which is somewhat of a bargain. Would Real sell though? They’ve made a mistake selling us one of their best players in Ozil, so is it likely that they’d do a repeat the following year? You’d say it’s unlikely and so cheap as well. But David Luiz is rated £50 million, so I don’t know much about football anymore.
Last transfer window, when we were busy wrapping up or own German wonder, United were supposedly rebuffed in their £40 million pursuit of Sami Khedira, something the player has confirmed. That tells you the quality of player on offer here. It also makes £15 million look too much like fantasy. But who knows. If Arsenal were to land Khedira, it’d be a successive major singing from Real Madrid, and one that’d greatly offer the team the dynamism and protection they’ve been missing. Hey, look at us poaching from all the big boys, and some will still say we haven’t progressed this year. A player like Khedira could transform Arsenal. See how influential Matic has been for Chelsea? Arsenal need their own. Hayden has potential, but he’s not ready. Sign Khedira for 3 years, and then work Hayden in. If Khedira doesn’t work out, Southampton’s Schneiderlin should be next on the list. He has a good three years on the German, and operates in much the same way, add to that the premier league experience, and you have a promising deal on the cards. He’d be another great signing for Arsenal this summer.
However, heart will always rule over head.
Some will say we don’t need Cesc Fabregas. The same who pull their hair out when injury central hits. We’re in too good of a position to let injuries repeatedly ruin us. World-class teams have world-class players who can come in whenever an injury hits. It’s true, there are other players we should be looking at, those better suited to a pure defensive midfield role, a powerhouse, a dominant tactician. Khedira certainly fits that bill. Do we need Cesc Fabregas? No, we don’t need Cesc Fabregas. We should want Cesc Fabregas.
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Photo via Alejandro Ramos