Arsenal and Barcelona fall out over ‘disrepectful’ Xavi

They may share similar ideals on how the beautiful game should be played, but what remaining respect there is left between Arsenal and Barcelona appears to be evaporating fast as a war of words broke out between Arsene Wenger and Xavi over, you guessed it, Cesc Fabregas.

Xavi, Fabregas's compatriot and the Nou Camp's tricksy midfielder, was the first to take aim. "I spoke to Cesc in Ibiza," he said. "And he told me he was suffering because he wants to come [to Barcelona]. That's what he most desires. He has done everything to come and he wants Arsenal to let him leave."

Wenger, unsurprisingly, did not appreciate the comments. Touring out in the Far East with his squad – minus Fabregas, who is recovering from an injury – Wenger has put on a show of strength this week in the face of persistent transfer speculation over his top players. Xavi's comments were clearly unwelcome.

"I believe a mutual respect between the clubs should stop this kind of comment," Wenger said. "If it's true then it's disrespectful and it's not the first time that Xavi has been disrespectful to Arsenal."

For the impartial observer, Barcelona's attempts to poach Fabregas from Arsenal must seem to be a never-ending tug-of-war. The Spaniard left the Nou Camp to North London in 2003, when he was just 16, but almost as soon as he was established in the Arsenal team, rumours began to circulate of Barcelona's desire to bring the midfielder back to Catalonia. Now, with monotonous predictability, the Fabregas ‘transfer saga' fills the back pages every summer.  

But this summer break things were expected to be different. The Arsenal board seemed resigned to their captain's departure, and Barcelona were expected to table a substantial bid for his services, and few people appeared to begrudge the ambitious 24-year-old the chance to seek silverware with his hometown club after half a decade of near misses with the Gunners.

Above all, the perceived understanding between the two clubs – both praised for their love of slick passing moves, ('sexy football' as Ruud Gullit would call it) – was believed to be the perfect foundation for mature discussions over the deal.

However, those discussions are becoming increasingly childish. There were visible tensions between the two clubs as a result of their Champions League clash last season, and Arsenal enraged the Catalans by yet again raiding their youth team for youngsters Jon Toral and Hector Bellerin. What's more Barcelona have consitently refused to match Arsenal's valuation of the player.

Now with Xavi's incendiary comments, the spat has gone public and the mood soured further.

All Wenger can do now, it would seem, is praise his player and cross his fingers. "Cesc loves the club and hopefully we will manage," he said. "We know that this story for Barcelona has gone on for years now - we have to close that and focus on the season, hopefully with Cesc Fabregas." ·