Manchester United’s pursuit of Cesc Fabregas is apparently over after the Barcelona midfielder says he has never considered leaving Barcelona this summer.
Finally speaking from Kuala Lumpur as Barca continue their pre-season Asian tour, Fabregas appeared to put all of the transfer talk to bed saying:
“My dream is to play here, I have never considered leaving,” he told Mundo Deportivo. “I am at the best club.”
Fabregas said stories which suggested he had already spoken with United, and even agreed personal terms, had been pure fabrications, and that he had been reassured by the regular public statements of support from Barca figures including Tito Vilanova, Andoni Zubizarreta, Tata Martino and Josep Maria Bartomeu.
“Things were invented,” he said. “I do not understand how after Tito, Zubi, Tata and Bartomeu all said they counted on me. I have not spoken with any other club for two summers now.”
It was also untrue that he or his representatives had tried to use the interest from England to try to get a pay-rise out of Barcelona, he said.
“I have messages from Bartomeu and from the president [Sandro Rosell],” Fabregas. “I have spoken face-to-face with them and have not had any problem. And neither is it true that I have asked for a new contract.”
Asked about his silence on his future in recent weeks, the Spain international said he had not felt the need to talk as in his own mind there had been no uncertainty at all.
“I have always been relaxed,” he said. “I did not have to clear up anything because in my head I was only going to stay at Barca.”
Fabregas’s comments are a little disingenuous. Man United would not have made two bids for the player if someone in his camp, was telling them that he was open to a move back to the Premier League. It will be interesting to see how Barca use Fabregas this season, as he has not lived up up expectations since he moved to the Camp Nou from Arsenal two years ago.