Cesc: The Final Ultimatum and Transfer Rumour Round-Up

A quiet Sunday morning transfer wise as those who wield the pen look to blight the England 2018 World Cup bid by carrying on about the state of the Wembley pitch and Hapless Triesmann’s comments about Spanish and Russian attempts to bribe their way to success whilst having an inability to keep his trousers on outside of the marital bedroom. And people complained that he was not a real footballing man.

The usual suspects are emerging from the shadows as domestic seasons around the continent draw to their conclusion, not least of which is the first ultimatum from Barcelona to Cesc Fàbregas that he must join this Summer or else. Presumably that is in no way related to the ultimatums that have been issued by the Catalans in previous transfer windows.

A surprisingly astute observation from Andy Dunn in this morning’s News of the World is that Fàbregas’ future is already resolved; it’s called four years remaining on his contract. It’s almost as naïve as the view that Cesc will request a transfer from Arsenal, foregoing all “loyalty” bonuses in the process which is the angle taken by the story in this morning’s Mail on Sunday.

Elsewhere, the English grit so desired in a centre back is apparently going to arrive in the shape of Phil Jagielka, touted at around the £15m-£16m mark. Presumably the rationale is that Arsène will have noted how well John Terry fared with the referee yesterday having put the boot in and not even been told. Mind you, with Terry’s previous he would no doubt have enjoyed the slap on the wrist…

So far we have seen Sebastian Frey and Yaya Toure re-emerge from the shadows and Summer just wouldn’t be Summer if Philippe Mexès was not rumoured to be signing. We’ll have to wait for that though won’t we? Nope, the Italian season is over this evening and with AS Roma still involved in the Serie A title bunfight, the rumour once more surfaces. Reports that the source was a Portuguese man speaking to a journalist at Linate on the way to Madrid remain unconfirmed.

With the goalkeeping situation apparently up for grabs, Arsène’s favourite colour is Green according to persistent rumours. The manager recently conducted a quickfire question and answer session over the phone, his favourite clothing being a bandana and album, The Faces “Ooh La La” were misheard by eavesdropping journalists which is how Mandanda and Toulalan got themselves onto the back pages.

’til Tomorrow.