Goal.com is reporting that Manchester United have reached an agreement with Inter Milan for the transfer of Wesley Sneijder for £35.2 million. If the Red Devils and Sneijder can agree personal terms, this transfer will not only have a large impact on Manchester United and the Premier League landscape, but it will also affect Cesc Fabregas's potential transfer to Barcelona.
As the fee for Fabregas's services continues to be haggled and debated about between the two clubs for weeks on end, it would seem as if a benchmark would be in place on which to negotiate. If one were to rank the top five midfielders in the world, both Fabregas and Sneijder would be firmly on many lists. In fact, most people would rank the Spaniard ahead of the Dutchman.
This would seem to give Arsenal the advantage in the ongoing negotiations. While nearly everyone outside of the Barcelona boardroom believes that Arsenal is worth a £40 million fee, the £35 million mark has been a crucial sticking point in the talks.
Now all Arsenal must say at the negotiating table is, "Look, if super-rich Manchester United can get Wesley Sneijder, a player below Fabregas's quality, for £35 million, surely you can cough up the £40 million we want." Indeed, it is a very strong negotiating point.
Beyond this aspect of the negotiations, however, there is another reason why Arsenal can and must use the Sneijder deal to get fair value for their captain. The transfer, if and when it officially goes through, will severely impact the Premier League.
Though I hate to admit it, "Manure" will be a juggernaut with Sneijder acting as the creative fulcrum of their midfield, feeding balls to Wayne Rooney and Chicharito, with Vidic, Ferdinand and the supremely talented David de Gea at the back. To keep up, Arsenal will need to take all the money received from the sale of Fabregas and reinvest it in a player of top quality such as Juan Mata to keep up.
But will Arsenal sell at all?
Indeed, the arrival of one of the best players in the world at one of Arsenal's main title rivals could actually discourage the Gunners from selling Fabregas altogether. This would make this whole point moot. Though Arsenal undoubtedly wish to keep one of the best players in the world already, a move like this could easily strengthen their resolve to hold onto Fabregas.
Losing him would be an enormous blow at any time. However, with such great contract leverage from the Spaniard's contract expiring in 2015, Arsenal might actually need to keep Fabregas in order to stand any chance of winning the Premier League or any silverware at all.
Samir Nasri is a good player, but he is not a third of the player that Fabregas is. Besides, Nasri looks to be leaving on a free transfer next summer anyway. Aaron Ramsey has always looked like the logical successor to Fabregas's throne; but at just 20 years of age and awaiting his first full season back from his horrific leg break, the time is not quite right for him to make the full jump from good to great.
So no matter what angle one takes—and there are several—the transfer of Sneijder to Manchester United has far-reaching implications on both the Premier League as a whole and the prolonged Fabregas transfer saga.
The Gunners are in a better position to demand more money for their player, which they will need once he is sold to keep pace with the Red Devils. And it is only the raising of the fee that will allow Fabregas to be sold in the first place. Perhaps the major consequence of Sneijder's monumental transfer will be that Fabregas is forced to stay to prevent the Gunners from being in a much worse position to win trophies than they otherwise would be.
Either way, it is certain that Sneijder's imminent transfer to Manchester United is the critical domino that will cause the rest to fall. And much of the transfer activity for the rest of the summer at Arsenal could be based off of this one giant move, for better or for worse.
Follow me on Twitter: @planefreakf22
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