Where Do Cesc And Robin Go From Here? (Part 1)

Whether you're a fan of Spain or Holland, if you're an Arsenal fan you'd be happy to know that no matter who won the World Cup yesterday Arsenal would start next season with a world champion among our ranks. That player has turned out to be Cesc Fabregas.

First of all, congratulations are in order for the young Catalan whose pass in extra time provided the assist for Andres Iniesta to find the all important goal for Spain to claim their first ever world title. It now means that Fabregas has a World Cup medal to go along with his European Championship medal he won 2 years ago.

While I'm very happy for Cesc, I have to say I'm sad for van Persie. In my opinion, he needed this World Cup title more than Cesc because of what it could've done for his reputation. Whether Cesc had won the World Cup, he'd be known as Arsenal's world class central midfielder. Fabregas is always spoken of in high regard by many pundits, managers and players. Throughout the years he's always been regarded as exceptionally talented at such a young age.

At 23 years old Cesc has now won the World Cup as well as the European Championship and this is coupled with the fact that he's highly sought after by Barcelona. He's so sought after that we've slapped a £50 million price tag on him. This is why as I said before, he's in the category of 'world class'.

Many naysayers may say he's not truly a World Cup winner due to how much time he spent on the bench for Spain but they can go to hell. If not for Cesc's pass to Iniesta the game might've ended goalless and gone unto penalties and who knows what would've happened there?

On the international stage, he's won both major titles available to him and the only way he could add to that is to repeat the feat of being European and World Champion for a second time by featuring as a starter in the Spanish team the next time around, if Spain manages to repeat this success.

At the club level, however, Cesc has a lot left to achieve. He still needs to win a league title and a Champions League title and then he can think about being in the running for a FIFA Ballon d'Or.

Hopefully what the World Cup has taught Fabregas is that his time spent on the bench is just a foreshadowing of what would happen should he leave Arsenal for Barcelona. Cesc, although not given enough playing time at the World Cup, had given better performances in his short time on the pitch than both Xavi and Iniesta and each time he's been subbed on he's either looked likely to score or likely to create a goal.What I'm saying is that even though his performances have been better than both Xavi and Iniesta's, he's not been made to start due to the seniority both those players hold in the team. If he was to go to Barcelona, it would serve as a clear indication that the same would happen there. Even our chairman Peter Hill-Wood believes this:

If you want my opinion, I’m not sure he would even get in their team. Do they need him? I’m not sure that they do.

Cesc has a good head on his shoulders and while it's pretty clear he wants to return to Barcelona someday, it would be best for him to stay at Arsenal for another 2 or 3 seasons and achieve what he can here as our captain and try to win the Premiership and maybe even the Champions League with us. This would help to establish him as one of the truly great players of the decade. When Xavi and Iniesta have both aged and the Barcelona management are ready to move them on, Cesc will be ready for a triumphant return to Barcelona where he'll be sure to be a starter in that team as he'll still be in the prime of his career while Xavi and Iniesta will be heading downhill.