Yesterday got a little out of control. I have to take responsibility for the kind of rumor-mongering that I really did not want to engage in here, ever. It's not an excuse, but trying to assimilate a lot of twitter feeds and articles while one is also trying to get packed and put together for the airport is probably not blogging best practices.
A deeper look at all of the speculation on the internet and television about the future of Cesc Fábregas bears very little information. As Arseblog and A Cultured Left Foot have pointed out, nobody really knows anything, and the sources remain as unnamed and inconsequential as ever. They both point out that there's no point in thinking about Arsenal's captain leaving until something official says he is, in fact, leaving, although hearing the truth, either way, would probably ease a lot of people's minds.
There is never any direct quotation of the player or of Arsène Wenger in these situations, and that's the way it's always been with these Cesc-Barca situations. The only direct quote I could find anywhere is from the Barcelona Vice President, Rafael Yuste, who says in the Mirror that both David Villa (who's now signed) and Fábregas want to be at the Camp Nou. Mr. Yuste clearly has some bias, so his word is, well, not worth much. The club has remained silent, no doubt preferring to let Wenger work on any problem that there might be without having to battle the press at the same time.
It's also questionable that Fábregas would even want to leave, but again, it's probably pointless to even think about. If one accepts that he is an Arsenal player until he is not, simple as that, it can ease some of the stress. There is no question that losing him would be a direct hit on Arsenal's ambitions, but it is the job of the club to prepare for those kinds of situations, not the job of this blog.
Bearing all of this in mind, I am going to try to keep the transfer speculation to a minimum around these parts for now, not because it is not fun to dream about players coming and worry (or, I guess, dream) about players leaving the club, but simply because it seems insane and sensationalist to do so (although getting 23 comments on one article was exciting). The only place speculation might arise is in a links roundup, and even then, it will be probably not "linked" to any article, and it will be resoundingly named as speculation only.
If this policy seems agreeable to everyone here, that will be how the blog will move forward. Do please make your feelings known about it, though. Again, I apologize for falling into the transfer traps yesterday.