Fabregas return clouded by Arsenal uncertainty

Arsenal tackle Manchester City on Saturday with the future of talismanic midfielder Cesc Fabregas again the subject of fevered speculation.

There have always been question marks regarding Arsenal’s ability to keep hold of the Spaniard, one of Europe’s most coveted talents, and the Spanish press is regularly stuffed full of tales suggesting Barcelona or Real Madrid are ready to lure him back to his native country.

But there is a growing suspicion at the Emirates stadium that the latest bout of rumours have more substance than most.

This has been a troubled season for Fabregas.

The 21-year-old has not played since December, when he damaged knee ligaments against Liverpool, and it has not gone unnoticed that Arsenal’s best run of results this term have come when their previously pivotal midfielder has been on the sidelines.

Fabregas had hardly been a dominant presence in the Arsenal side before suffering his injury, the spark which habitually accompanied his performances last season – when he had scored 11 goals by November 3 – having sputtered and died thanks to a gruelling summer when he helped Spain lift the 2008 European Championships.

In his place, Alex Song and Abou Diaby have proved able deputies and, while it seems inevitable that a fit-again Fabregas will return against City, fourth-placed Arsenal no longer appear a shadow side in his absence.

There is also the issue of Fabregas’s attitude. The former Barcelona trainee had always been considered one of the English game’s good guys, his professionalism and courtesy providing a model for his peers, but that reputation has been damaged, possibly beyond repair.

There is a Football Association inquiry ongoing into claims from the Hull City assistant manager, Brian Horton, that Fabregas spat at him in the tunnel following Arsenal’s tempestuous FA Cup quarter-final victory over the Humbersiders in March.

Fabregas vehemently denies the allegations, but nobody could dispute that the pictures of the Gunners captain – dressed in jeans and a hooded top – celebrating wildly on the pitch moments after the final whistle were embarrassing at best and downright unedifying at worst.

None of that will deter Barcelona, of course, and comments from the club president Joan Laporta last week that he “would love to see Fabregas in a Barcelona shirt” confirmed that he remains at the top of their summer shopping list.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger will now have to decide whether he could afford to reject an offer for Fabregas, who is under contract until 2014 and would command a suitably eye-watering fee.

Fabregas could hardly have asked for a more inviting game to mark his comeback, with City boasting a dismal record on their travels this season.

Mark Hughes’ side may have dispatched Arsenal 3-0 at Eastlands in the autumn, but they will travel south in hope rather than expectation. Instead, Hughes is already planning for a busy summer, which should see a raft of arrivals and departures.

“Squad planning is going on, because after a transfer window has closed you look at what you feel are the strengths and weaknesses of the squad as it now stands, and then you plan accordingly,” Hughes said.

“I prefer to bring players in before I let them go. It’s not right to weaken the squad before you have brought in sufficient strength to compensate. That’s always been my philosophy in that regard.”