Future of Arsenal’s best player in the hands of his meddling parents

When Real Madrid came to Arsenal last summer jabbing their heavily bejewelled fingers at a picture of Cesc Fabregas and brandishing 40 million euros, they must have thought they’d done enough to leave with their prize. The word from the Fabregas family, however, was “no”.

Arsenal must have been delighted that their young star was so immune to temptation, but in fact it was his parents who stopped the deal from progressing. Not because of their love for Arsenal, though. Rather, like good Catalans, they can’t stand the thought of little Cesc turning out for the hated Real Madrid. If Barcelona were ever to come a-calling, however, well that would be another thing entirely, and Fabregas Jr would be off to the Camp Nou whether he likes it or not.