Arsenal Will Sell Fabregas but Will Wenger Spend the Cash? Erm... No!

Sir Chips Keswick and Lord Harris of Peckham. Oh, and American “sports tycoon” Stan Kroenke, South African-born chief executive Ivan Gazidis, a very old double-barrelled Etonian chairman Peter Hill-Wood and his right-handman Ken Friar.

These are the men who will decide, over the next fortnight, whether a 24-year-old called Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas i Soler will return to his Catalan roots at the Nou Camp in Barcelona this summer. The European champions have offered £27m, apparently Arsenal want something closer to £35m.

According to the BBC tonight, a “senior Arsenal official” says: "The offer was made formally in writing to our chief executive [Ivan Gazidis], and we said no straight away."

Asked if an improved offer might be successful, the BBC source said: "Possibly yes, and if it's enough then I expect we'll have to sell."

And long-suffering Arsenal fans, trophyless since Patrick Vieira’s shoot-out FA Cup final winner against Manchester United at the Millennium Stadium on May 21 2005, are powerless to do anything barring a Syrian/Egyptian/Libyan/Bahraini/Yemeni etc etc style uprising against the lack of democracy in football.

Even Arsene Wenger, ailing spiritual leader of the largely peaceful Gooner Popular Front, appears powerless to stop the sale of the lad eased out of the Barca camp as a 16-year-old.

Instead he will have to rely on the precocious but precarious talents of Jack Wilshere, the 19-year-old who is as quick with his tantrums and new contract demands (he was offered a new five-year deal yesterday) as he is with his defence-splitting passes.

Look, £35m for Fabregas is good business. But will Arsenal truly benefit from his long-mooted departure? Chief Executive Gazidis, born in Johannesburg on September 13, 1964, told Arsenal’s Supporters Trust earlier this month that failing on four fronts again this season (let’s not mention the Carling Cup final defeat against Birmingham City) was “not a disaster” and insisted: “I know how you feel.”

Yeah. Sure. Gazidis. Born in Joburg. Left for England aged four. An Oxford blue. Worked in the USA. As north London true Gooner as Sir Chips and his pal Lord Harris of Peckham. Or the toff Hill-Wood. They know how Arsenal fans feel, paying out of their noses for a seat in the plush but pricey Emirates Stadium, eating expensive plastic hot dogs with memories of trophy-winning winters at Highbury long forgotten. George Graham, Bertie Mee? Where are you now?

Watching Arsenal play the best football in the country but failing – largely due to a significant lack of spending – to compete with Manchester United or Chelsea year after bloody year. Last I saw, Arsenal were the 32nd biggest spenders in England since the Premier League kicked off in 1992. The top-four finishing Gunners are regularly in the relegation zone on spending. Economics suggest they should be languishing mid-table in the Championship.

But now, finally, it seems Fabregas will go. Samir Nasri is being courted by Manchester United, Gael Clichy could go to Liverpool. With those big-name departures, Wenger SHOULD get a £50m summer sale bonus to add to the alleged £60m Gazidis and his junta have set aside for new players.

So perhaps this year, Wenger won’t have to unretire 41-year-old goalkeeper Jens Lehmann after meeting him while commentating on German television. Sir Chips and his pals should make the move for Shay Given, the former Newcastle goalkeeper currently kicking his heels behind Joe Hart at Manchester City. Three years after Wenger first talked about a £12m bid for the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper.

And what about those centre-backs? Johann Djourou improved markedly last season after the departures of Sol Campbell and William Gallas, but with Laurent Koscielny failing to fill in for the long-term injury to Thomas Vermaelen, £12m Chris Samba of Blackburn might be just the tonic. Or Gary Cahill, the no-nonsense defender Bolton seem so eager to sell. Mind you, spending £17m on an England international has never been one of Arsenal’s strongpoints.

Wenger said on July 29 (that’s LAST YEAR): “I believe we need to sign at least four centre backs because we have some other players who can fill in this position but overall we are still on the search." Instead, he got hold of Sebastien Squillaci – yet another less-than-intimidating central defender - and hoped for the best.

In the midfield, the pathetic Brazilian Denilson is making wantaway noises and offering himself for sale on auction site eBay. Alex Song, ever-effective as a defender but questionable as a play-maker, must soldier on. Like captain Fabregas, Nasri’s departure appears imminent too.

There is talk of Barca’s 20-year-old Italian born dynamo Thiago Alcantara coming the other way in the Fab deal, or Ricardo Alvarez, the Argentinian from Velez Sarsfield, coming soon. But they’re only rumours.

Up front, Wenger perseveres with not-so-great Dane Nicklas Bendtner and the disappointing 2010 signing Marouane Chamakh next to Dutchman Robin van Persie, who finished last season with a flourish, while Theo Walcott continues to frighten defences with his searing burst of pace and sorry lack of product.

There’s talk of Lille’s Gervinho arriving for £10million. The dread-locked Ivory Coast striker is making all the right noises – just as Chamakh did last summer – but is he really better than Togo’s Emmanuel Adebayor, released so easily to Manchester City two seasons ago?

Michel Seydoux, president of the French double-winners, said yesterday: “We know that Gervinho is keen on Arsenal. There has been simple contact, but we have not received a concrete offer yet."

So hey, long-suffering Gooners, let’s not hold our breath. We’ve talked this summer about Gervinho, Alvarez, Alcantara, Karim Benzema, Cahill, Douglas Costa, Juan Mata, West Brom’s sharp-shooter Peter Odemwingie, Samba, Arturo Vidal.

But so far, Arsenal’s summer spending consists of Finland’s English-born Carl Jenkinson from Charlton Athletic. He’s 19 and played just nine times for the Addicks. The fee? Around £1m, “paid in stages”. Now that’s big spending!

Oh, and three youngsters called Benik Afobe, Chuks Aneke and Oguzhan Ozyakup have pledged their long-term futures to Arsenal according to the club website. Woohoo.

Gazidis again: “It is very clear we had some shortcomings and in this close season we are going to see some turnover of players. Some new signings will be coming in and some of our existing squad will be going out. As Arsene has said, it will be a busy close season for the club.”

Tellingly though, he added: “We have a young squad and we don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

Chances are Arsenal’s board, that cunning blend of foreign financiers and toffs, will spend as little as they can and hope for another year of big profit, presumably to pay off the Emirates Stadium. But that’s a tired excuse. If Fabregas goes, it’s time to spend big. Everyone knows it. Except Sir Chips and his fishy friends.

Who the hell is Neal Collins (nealcol on Twitter)? See www.nealcollins.co.uk.

It's Make Or Break For Arsenal As Partizan Belgrade and Man United Loom

Suddenly, it all comes down to this. One fateful week which could well decide Arsenal’s fate after six barren trophy-free years.

On Wednesday night, with their English rivals Chelsea, Manchester United and Spurs already qualified, Arsene Wenger’s men must end a run of two successive Champions League defeats by beating Partizan Belgrade at the Emirates to assure their progress to the knock-out stages.

Then it’s off to Manchester United as the Premier League’s top two battle it out for supremacy on Monday night.a

Two defeats, and Wenger will be tearing what’s left of his hair out with impatient fans calling for the German-speaking Frenchman to go. Two wins and all will be rosy for the scarlet-clad Gunners, Wenger will be safe and the bottle-throwing tantrums will subside.

Amid the gloom of Thomas Vermaelen announcing he was out until the end of the year, Arsenal full-back Bacary Sagna, he of the beaded hair, volunteered as the Gooner spokesman in this, the week of all weeks for his team.

One of the safest full-backs in the Premier League, Sagna – capped 29 times by France but of Senegalese descent – argues quite rightly: "We do not want the season to be over at the end of December. Win these two games and we will give even more power to the team.

"It’s about time we won these big games. Against Chelsea, we dropped points, at home we have dropped so many points. At United, we want to play our game and win.

"Going top of the League was great on Saturday. But we need to be more focussed. We have to win at home. We have to keep looking forward."

Fellow Frenchman Samir Nasri has emerged as Arsenal’s unlikely hero with the pivotal Spaniard Cesc Fabregas injured. His two goals put paid to Fulham’s challenge on Saturday and Sagna, 27, recognises his importance: “Sami is now showing his best and has more to show,. We only beat Fulham because of him, He is a really good guy and fits in well with everyone on the pitch. He gives us a good balance.”

Balance is all very well. Sagna arrived in North London in 2007 and hasn’t had a sniff of a trophy since he arrived. Memories of Arsene Wenger’s three early title triumphs have faded. It’s time the Gunners stopped firing blanks.

Nasri, 23, says: “Before I felt too much pressure to score, I wanted it too much maybe. Now I don't worry as much. I'm more at ease in the game and I'm not just looking for goals, I'm looking to work for the team. I think I'm more mature in my football game. I think more with my head.”

“When I'm in front of a goalkeeper I am more relaxed now.”

He’ll need to be relaxed in front of goal at Old Trafford on Monday. A lot depends on it.

Who the hell is Neal Collins? See nealcollins.co.uk or nealcol on twitter. Currently in Ngwenya, overlooking the Crocodile River and Kruger National Park. You should see this place.

Breaking news: Mike Ashley, the Newcastle chairman, sacks manager Chris Hughton. I guess everyone knows Ashley, from Maidenhead in Berkshire, is a Spurs fan? What a fool that man is!

Gunner Frimpong latest to be hit by Ghana curse

Ghana. Sheez. How unlucky can you get? Reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup without crocked Chelsea star Michael Essien and with Sulley Muntari causing havoc in the camp – and then some irksome Uruguayan uses a hand to prevent the Black Stars from claiming their rightful place as Africa’s first global semi-finalists.

Ah, how Africa wept that fateful night at Soccer City on July 2 when Luis Suarez produced football’s second Hand of God, enabling his side to progress on penalties. What might have been eh? But that’s history now. An 18-year-old called Emmanuel Yaw Frimpong represents the future – but he too has been hit by the curse of the Black Stars.

With a name which sounds curiously like a video game for x-box addicts if you say it quickly, Frimpong is the new Ghanaian on the block. On Arsenal’s north London block that is.

Arsene Wenger swooped for the lad from Accra when he was just 11. Just as he did with Cesc Fabregas, Mathieu Flamini and Nicolas Anelka, the shrewd Frenchman was in and talking to the parents before the locals realised what they had in their hands. He signed at the turn of the millennium and has rarely looked back.

Frimpong has been talked about for some time by Arsenal aficionados... but few outside the Gooner blogs have heard of the midfielder who started all three of Arsenal’s pre-season friendlies next to the young English phenomenon Jack Wilshere, also 18. The official Arsenal website suggests the lad is “built like a welterweight boxer” and his prowess in the tackle makes him one of those “Makelele” midfielders who can win the ball as well as working magic in possession.

Frimpong might have been promoted even more quickly but for a hamstring injury which disrupted his progress last season. He laments: "Last season was difficult, it was the hamstring injury that just wouldn’t go away. It was quite frustrating, especially as I went into this season hoping to make progress in the reserves and beyond."

But for a torn cruciate suffered up training with the reserves in Dublin this month, he’s be the one wearing the No41 shirt this season. As Wenger said before injury struck: "It’s great to have two young players from our youth system playing so well in pre-season. We are all happy. Frimpong is a bit less of a dribbler than Wilshere, but he's a fighter and a winner."

While Mario Balotelli, Inter Milan’s young Ghanaian who has just moved to Manchester City, shrugs off his heritage to play for Italy and Jerome Boateng chose to play for Germany, Frimpong has resisted the lure of England. And he did if before the Three Lions’ appalling World Cup performance cast a pall over the game in the land where football was invented.

Frimpong played for England’s Under 16 and Under 18s, but insisted in February: "I have always said that, no matter what, I will always play for Ghana because at the end of the day, from what I believe, I am a Ghanaian.

"England has done a lot for me and my family but at the end of the day I can't see myself playing for England because I am not English - I am from Ghana."

Wenger is mystified by Fabio Capello’s failure to test Frimpong’s unexpected pledge of allegiance. Never one to worry about nationality, Wenger growls: "Here you have a boy who can choose between England and Ghana. So if I was in your place, I would have no hesitation and invite him to play very quickly for England."

But Capello’s silence is deafening. Now something of a lame duck England coach after their World Cup farce, the Italian has missed the boat once more. Next time Ghana appear on the international stage, expect a rehabilitated Frimpong to feature in the Essien role. Prominently.