Barcelona vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu
believes that Arsenal were correct in their initial valuation of Cesc
Fabregas at €60m (£53m), having seen the midfielder's impact at the Nou
Camp.
Barcelona signed Arsenal's captain last month
after weeks of negotiation, in a deal worth £35m. The Arsenal manager,
Arsène Wenger, said that it was a "reduced fee", and Bartomeu agrees
that the midfielder was worth more.
Bartomeu
told Catalan newspaper Sport that Fabregas's performances so far have
justified the initial Arsenal price tag. "After seeing the work he's
done since his arrival it is true that Cesc meets the €60m valuation
Arsenal initially demanded," he said.
"The kid is demonstrating a high level and quality
in three weeks of training. The transfer was very good. In a market that
is so open Cesc is worth a lot of money. It was complicated to close
the deal. The negotiations were very hard."
Fabregas
joined for a basic fee of €29m (£25.6m), with a £4m pay-off waived by
Fabregas, as well as £4.4m of further add-ons contingent on Barcelona
winning more trophies. There is also a 50 per cent sell-on clause,
should the Spanish club offload him in the future, and a buy-back option
for Arsenal. Barcelona have also given up any claims to youngsters Jon
Miquel Toral and Hector Bellerin, who left them to join Arsenal in the
summer. Soon after the deal was reached, Wenger said that the club sold
Fabregas for a "reduced fee", and that an auction for him would have
brought more money in.
"If he was on the market
to any club we would have got more money but we did want to get a decent
fee," said Wenger last month. "That's what I'm paid for. You cannot
say because you want to get the deal done as quickly as possible: 'Just
take him and give us what you want'. You have to fight for your rights.
If Cesc is for sale and you can make an auction between Real Madrid,
Chelsea, Man City, you will certainly get more money but he just wanted
to go to Barcelona."
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