[Football] A Red-and-White Dream

Cesc Fabregas once paid for his own transfer to Barcelona, claiming he was homesick. Samir Nasri joined Manchester City, claiming he had moved to Arsenal for the sake of his career. More recently, Alex Song and Robin van Persie joined Barcelona and Manchester United respectively in the final days of the summer transfer window. In just two seasons, Arsenal had lost four key players. And yet the club still had to contend with an owner who wouldn't spend, a stadium to pay off, a league campaign in which they had to fight for a top-four finish, and their reputation as Champions League round-of-16 regulars. Just when fans were scratching their heads, wondering whether the squad would get any reinforcements this season, Wenger brought yet another kid up to the first team. PS: 1. Arsenal till the end, Croatia for the national team. (The author is a huge fan of the Professor and that line must be bolded and highlighted in this story. Consider this your advance warning.) 2. The author is a casual fan. If there are any mistakes, I'll fix what I can. If I can't, just consider it the butterfly effect. 3. Writing football stories shattered my resolve, so I'm taking back what I said. I need to hurry up and write something really satisfying. I'll wrap this up after two seasons! 4. No updates are tentatively scheduled for Mondays and Wednesdays. Updates go up at midnight every day; other times are for fixing typos. If anything comes up, I'll post a notice. Theme: Strive toward a brighter future.