Could Luis Suarez to Real Madrid pave the way for Angel di María to Arsenal?
This post promises to be 99.9% Fábregas-free. In fact, that was the only mention of him. I hope. News out of Madrid suggests that Real Madrid's gluttony for galácticos has apparently compelled them to bid some £70m for Luis "Dracu-luis" Suarez, because, it seems, they have suffered in the goal-scoring and insufferable d-bag department, what with having netted "only" 104 goals while finishing second in La Liga while winning the Copa del Rey and la Decima. Far be it from me to criticize their wheelings and dealings. After all, they have of late been among our best friends and allies. Modri?. Bale. Özil. And on and... Okay, so that's about it. Still, it's a far-better record than our so-called kindred spirits at Camp Nou.
While we've been obsessing over certain creative, attacking midfielders of the central variety and how he might fit into an already-crowded area, we've been guilty of neglecting a more-pressing need, that of striker. Speaking of strikers, Suarez is, despite my protests to the contrary last summer, among the best in business (my protests had largely do to with issues beyond scoring, like biting, racism, diving, and the like). Water under a bridge. Let bygones be bygones. Suarez tried to burn a few bridges last summer but couldn't quite pull it off. Liverpool's failure to win anything despite all of that scoring and scoring and scoring, coupled with the cold, hard reality that the Scousers will likely struggle to replicate their almost-memorable performance while also contending in the Champions League, could be enough to urge the Uruguayan to pack up and leave for greener pastures. Fine by me.
Of greater interest is the idea that Real Madrid, once again looking to spend like a drunken sailor on someone as surplus to their needs as is Suarez, might have to look around at whom to sell. With attacking options like Suarez (potentially), Ronaldo, and Bale, would they really need someone like Ángel di María? Methinks they think they don't. After all, who needs a pacey, dogged, creative midfielder when you've got Ronaldo and Bale and Suarez who can simply score at will? If the likes of Özil was so precious, after all, wouldn't Ronaldo's scoring have dropped? Well, he did score four fewer goals from last year to this, but maybe that's more because of the arrival of Bale's greed than the absence of Özil's generosity.
Savour the potential irony. 'Round about 10 months ago, Tot'num sent Gareth Bale to the Bernabeu for a princely sum and promptly went out and bought a fair number of halfway decent footballers who helped them almost qualify for Spuropa League. Could we see a replay, a sequel of sorts, this time involving the Liverputians? Once again, a double-swoop could be rivals of ours sell off their talisman while the buyers sell to us in order to square away the books. Should the Suarez-to-Spain deal come through, it could very well grease the wheels for a di María move to the Emirates. After all, even Real Madrid have to pretend like they're balancing the books.
Who knows what is happening with Fábregas? Are we playing 'possum only to pounce after some other club triggers this clause that allows us to swoop in? I don't know. I have much more faith in the idea that a club like Real Madrid would go all-in for someone as superfluous to their needs as Suarez is than I do in the hope that our club would go any distance for someone as sentimental as Fábregas (not to mention the strategic considerations, such as denying our rivals access to such a player). We may not see the return of Arsenal's prodigal, but if Suarez's departure from Liverpool smooths the arrival of a di María (or maybe Benzema) at the Emirates, well, I can live with that. How 'bout you?