Xabi Alonso & Cesc Fabregas in happier times
When Liverpool and Arsenal met at the Emirates in December, Arsenal walked out of the match with a 1-1 draw and the loss of newly-appointed captain Cesc Fabregas to a right knee injury. The injury was inflicted by a hard tackle from Spanish national team mate Xabi Alonso; it was a fair play, but it ended with Fabregas sitting out until April.
History repeated itself less than a year later at the Spanish national team training camp yesterday when the Arsenal midfielder limped away from an Alonso challenge with another knee injury. Perhaps fortunately, this time it’s the left knee that’s rumored to be hurt. There’s no news on the extent of the injury, but Fabregas is out of the lineup in today’s game against Iraq.
In possibly worse news for Gunner fans, Real Madrid has apparently shifted their focus from Alonso over to Fabregas. Liverpool have said all along that they were unwilling to sell Alonso, and their £40 million asking price (or about £18 million over the £22 million Perez was willing to pay) apparently convinced Real Madrid that they weren’t kidding about that. Fabregas is presumably worth more than £22 million; how much more is going to be the question. Arsenal have already fended off Barcelona this season, but Real Madrid’s warchest might prove too rich to resist.
