Effect of Cesc Fabregas Departure on Arsenal

It is now more or less clear that Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has found his heart in Barcelona. The outstanding midfielder has recently revealed his wish to join the Catalan club, while Barcelona is preparing a formal bid for their former student who joined the North London club in 2003.

Over the last 7 years, Fabregas has grown into one of the top class footballers in the world and there are many clubs who are interested to clinch his service. However, the player has already confirmed he would only wear Barcelona shirt, if he leaves Emirates. So, it is pretty much apparent that Fabregas would move to Barcelona in the near future (most probably this summer). Now, the question is what would be the effect of his departure on Arsenal.

Well, apparently his departure would definitely a huge blow to Arsenal. I believe his move would leave a huge void in Arsenal midfield and it would be far more significant than the departure of Patrick Vieira in 2005. When Vieira left Gunners for Juventus, there were speculations that Arsenal would find it hard to get his replacement. Within a season of Vieira’s move, Arsenal got a more quality player in Cesc Fabregas who showed his talent and skill with sheer effect for the first time in the 2005-06 season. There was no more looking back for Fabregas since then.

Now, who will replace Cesc Fabregas in Arsenal midfield? Is there anybody in the current Arsenal set up who has the ability to fill up the void created by his departure?

My question is yes. Arsenal has a number of talented players who already showed they have what it takes to become a world class footballer. Players like Samir Nasri, Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere may be underdeveloped at the moment, but they have the talent to grow into a player like Cesc Fabregas or even better than the Spaniard. They can make it happen in the same system that created Fabregas under the supervision of the same man Arsene Wenger.

However, the problem is if Arsenal would be able to ensure that their young prospects would spent their best years in Arsenal. Fabregas is yet to give his best. Overall, his departure would definitely have some immediate effects on the club in terms of performance, but more than that, Fabregas’ move to Barcelona could give a misleading message to the young players that Wenger need to deal with now.