By Chris Wright

As the headline suggests, the club-record pay deal handed by Arsenal to midfielder ‘Cesc Fabregas a year ago has been revealed – and it’s fairly substantial.

The ‘golden handcuff’ package was offered after lengthy negotiations last summer, primarily in a bid to keep Barcelona at bay but also to compensate Fabregas for his relatively low wages (compared to those of the Premier League’s elite).

The Arsenal board decided to sanction the unprecedented deal in a desperate attempt to keep hold of their captain amidst rumours of growing interest from his homeland.

The Spaniard signed an eight-year contract with Arsenal in 2006 (with initial wages of £60,000-a-week, coupled with annual increments).

According to Goal UK, the new deal not only saw Fabregas’ wages upped from £80,000-a-week to £110,000-a-week but it also saw his salary back-dated at the higher rate for the two previous seasons, resulting in a £3 million ‘signing-on’ fee – i.e, £30,000-a-week in wages for each of the preceding two years.

So, ‘Cesc is signed up with The Gunners for another four years on mammoth wages – finally, we can put to rest all those nasty Barca rumours…

… for a few weeks.

Posted in Arsenal, Barcelona, Transfers & Rumours | 5 Comments »