What's Wrong With Cesc?

"The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about."

- Oscar Wilde, feeling Cesc's pain

It's desperate times at Real Madrid. The magical transfer pot has dwindled to a paltry 50 million or so, the number of prospective Galacticos has been culled, and Florentino Perez has been reduced to throwing euros at completely random players, hoping desperately that some of it will stick.

At the moment, Real Madrid are bidding for Xabi Alonso and Gaetano D'Agostino, had a bid for Daniele De Rossi rebuffed, are still hopeful for Franck Ribery... but they're not at all interested in our Cesc Fabregas. As Real Madrid's sporting director, Miguel Pardeza said:

"He is a great player, there's no doubt about that. But at this moment he is not a target for Real Madrid. The club are working on other alternatives."

Is anyone else feeling a bit left out? I don't want Cesc to leave, and I find all the transfer speculation annoying, but couldn't they even consider our Cesc for a moment? I mean, he's a great player. He's as much a Galactico as anyone on the Real Madrid lineup. At a time when a link with Real Madrid is akin to a nomination for FIFA World Player Of The Year (and the list is probably just as extensive), this rejection hurts.

So what's wrong with Cesc? Why don't they want him? He's at least as good a passer as Xabi Alonso. He's not as tough as De Rossi, but he gets stuck into it when he has to. He's young and spiky, wears puffy parkas and spits on people. He's like a supremely gifted llama. So why aren't Real Madrid interested?

In other news, Stan Kroenke's inching his way towards total domination. He's just paid 1.5 million pounds ($2.44 million) for another 160 shares at £8,500 each. He owns 28.58% of the Arsenal at the moment. This from a guy who doesn't want to inject funds into the Arsenal, but seems quite happy to spend lots of money buying it up. Now, I think Kroenke is a good influence at the Club - he has a trustworthy mustache, after all - but I am wondering about the future of the Club. Does Kroenke plan to do something expansionary with the Club, or is he content to maintain the status quo?

And then there's this good article from David Conn about the rejected rights issue. I think the Board's done us a disservice by not considering this rights issue more fully. But it's dead and buried, I guess, so we'll just have to move on from here.