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Cast your mind back a few days, and the Chelsea-verse was all Cesc Fàbregas all the time. You can't stop the signal, Mal.
But with the player away in Brazil preparing for Spain's World Cup opener on Friday, and perhaps other behind-the-scenes machinations going on, the rumor mill had ground to a virtual halt since the weekend. Thanks to Ivan Rakiticć however, the gears are turning once again.
Earlier today, the 26-year-old midfielder confirmed that he is indeed moving to Barcelona this summer, for a rather small €20m transfer fee at that. Having now secured a replacement an upgrade, is the Catalan club finally ready to let Fàbregas leave? Most likely, yes.
While it is assumed that Cesc will end up at Chelsea for reasons that I still have not been able to fully comprehend, some sources claim that no such agreement exists (yet).
Latest on Cesc: no agreement yet with Chelsea or anybody. City and United in the equation still. But FCB leaking he is very close to Chelsea
— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) June 11, 2014
In fact, the only top England team not interested in Cesc is Arsenal
— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) June 11, 2014
Arsenal's lack of interest -- despite an apparent first/buyback option -- has been reported quite consistently, so that's probably something we don't have to worry about. United's interest may or may not be a fabrication (BOOM!) on the other hand, while this is the first time I'm hearing of Manchester City being involved. All in all, barring any last minute surprises (any friends or foes up for a good gazumping?), Cesc will probably end up at Chelsea United Monaco PSG East Stirling in the Premier League. Yeah, let's go with Premier League.
The latest rumored numbers on the 27-year-old midfielder are a £27m transfer fee (set in stone by us, supposedly, to avoid any sell-on profit payments to Arsenal, because those few millions will make a world of difference, right?) and a five-year contract at around £150,000/week. Those wages are about the same as reported by Marca initially, though their version came with just a four-year contract.
Either way, Fabregas's transfer is still expected to be announced in the couple days. Hurray?