Round Two: Fight!
Out comes Manchester United in their second go of the pursuit of Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas.
This time David Moyes – via United’s executive vice-president Ed Woodward – is swinging a heavy-handed offer of $46 million (£30m), up $6.1 million (£4m) from his initial bid of $39.9 million (£26m), which Barcelona immediately swiped away.
Despite Fabregas’ outspoken resistance from a move away from the Camp Nou and Barcelona’s desire to keep the player at his hometown club, United clearly think this is merely a matter of money. Which, like everything in this world, it is.
But whether an additional $6.1 million will sway the Catalan giants into selling a key component of their midfield (for the future, at least) after already losing Thiago Alcantara in a transfer to Bayern Munich is a dicey issue.
If Xavi or Andres Iniesta catches an injury, which has been happening with increasing frequency over the last few seasons, Fabregas would quickly become a crucial component in the Barca midfield.
Moyes, for his part, seems to be doing all he can to distance himself from the situation, repeatedly noting that Woodward is running the show and dealing with negotiations. “My understanding is that Ed’s had a response and he’s spoken with them and again we’ve made a second offer,” Moyes said. “But Ed’s dealing with that, rather than me personally here.”
While the new United manager would not say if two bids is the tipping point for walking away, he did admit that a point comes when transfer deals become fruitless to pursue. “I think a point does come but I think when you are interested in good players you want to give it every opportunity to materialize. And I’ll do that,” Moyes said.
But mostly, Moyes just wants to clarify that the Fabregas situation is all about Woodward. “I’ll hope that things can continue to try to move forward. At this moment I can only tell you that Ed Woodward is working hard to make the deals happen and we’re hoping some of them will fall into place shortly.”
A mere three weeks deep into his official start at United and between the Wayne Rooney situation and the need to bring in a world-class center midfielder, the crop lines across Moyes’ forehead already look more pronounced.
Is there any doubt that succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson is the toughest gig in world football?
You can find Mike on Twitter @mprindi
