Sports / Soccer
Barca in bitter feud with Arsenal
22 Feb 2011 at 06:38hrs | Views
ARSENAL and Barcelona are locked in a bitter bust-up that is souring relations between the Champions League rivals.
The Spaniards are furious with Arsenal for trying to snatch 16-year-old wonderkid Jon Miquel Toral Harper from their academy ' just like they did with Cesc Fabregas.
SunSport revealed that the storm erupted before the clubs clashed at the Emirates last Wednesday as Barca president Sandro Rosell made his opinions forcibly known to Gunners chief executive Ivan Gazidis.
An eye witness said: "Rosell seemed to be raising his voice at Gazidis who stayed calm and did not respond. It was clear, though, that Rosell was particularly angry."
The Catalan giants are furious with the Gunners for trying to lure midfielder Toral. He has an English mother and is, I understand, now close to signing a professional contract with the Gunners.
Ironically, he has already appeared in a Nike advert alongside Fabregas!
The bitter bust-up is now threatening to overshadow the return leg at the Nou Camp when Arsenal defend a 2-1 lead.
There is no suggestion the Gunners have done anything untoward but the Catalans are up in arms.
Rosell is particularly sensitive about this issue as he was vice-president when the Gunners nabbed Fabregas back in 2003.
The Barca president argued with then Gunners vice-chairman David Dein and secured a first-refusal option for Fabregas if Arsenal ever sold him.
Now he is livid with Arsenal over the new incident in which the Gunners seem to have gone behind Barcelona's backs again.
Barcelona have been publicly tapping-up Fabregas for several years and last summer he was on the verge of returning to his hometown club in a £31million transfer ' but Gunners boss Arsene Wenger blocked the move.
Wenger has been angrily accusing Barcelona of underhand tactics in their attempts to snatch Cesc.
Now this latest incident is certain to further sour relations between the two clubs and is certain to spice up the second leg at the Nou Camp on March 8.
The Spaniards are furious with Arsenal for trying to snatch 16-year-old wonderkid Jon Miquel Toral Harper from their academy ' just like they did with Cesc Fabregas.
SunSport revealed that the storm erupted before the clubs clashed at the Emirates last Wednesday as Barca president Sandro Rosell made his opinions forcibly known to Gunners chief executive Ivan Gazidis.
An eye witness said: "Rosell seemed to be raising his voice at Gazidis who stayed calm and did not respond. It was clear, though, that Rosell was particularly angry."
The Catalan giants are furious with the Gunners for trying to lure midfielder Toral. He has an English mother and is, I understand, now close to signing a professional contract with the Gunners.
Ironically, he has already appeared in a Nike advert alongside Fabregas!
The bitter bust-up is now threatening to overshadow the return leg at the Nou Camp when Arsenal defend a 2-1 lead.
There is no suggestion the Gunners have done anything untoward but the Catalans are up in arms.
Rosell is particularly sensitive about this issue as he was vice-president when the Gunners nabbed Fabregas back in 2003.
The Barca president argued with then Gunners vice-chairman David Dein and secured a first-refusal option for Fabregas if Arsenal ever sold him.
Now he is livid with Arsenal over the new incident in which the Gunners seem to have gone behind Barcelona's backs again.
Barcelona have been publicly tapping-up Fabregas for several years and last summer he was on the verge of returning to his hometown club in a £31million transfer ' but Gunners boss Arsene Wenger blocked the move.
Wenger has been angrily accusing Barcelona of underhand tactics in their attempts to snatch Cesc.
Now this latest incident is certain to further sour relations between the two clubs and is certain to spice up the second leg at the Nou Camp on March 8.
Source - Byo24News
