Cesc may make an official transfer request to leave Arsenal

zocoss SG

Barcelona have confirmed they have 50 million euros (£41.7m) to spend in the transfer market this summer.

The Spanish giants were forced to seal a five-year 155 million euros loan on Wednesday in order to resolve long-term cash-flow problems.

Barca have had issues regarding player and staff wages since June and new president Sandro Rosell has set about resolving the club's finances.

The Catalans have already secured a move for Valencia striker David Villa this summer, for 40 million euros, while there is the ongoing transfer saga with Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas.

Spain midfielder Fabregas was forced into a Barca shirt by team-mates during his country's World Cup celebrations, and the La Liga champions will be hoping their transfer budget will be enough to lure him to the Nou Camp.

"The club has approximately 50 million euros net to spend on new players each season," said a statement on the club's official website.

"In the case of this season, buying David Villa (40 million euros) combined with the sales of Yaya Toure and Dmytro Chygrynskiy balance themselves out.

"This means the club still has 50 million euros to spend."

Barca have already had a bid of 35 million euros (£29m) for Fabregas rejected by the Gunners, and they are expected to up that offer.

It remains to be seen if funds from further player sales will be added to the kitty, as speculation regarding the futures of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Rafael Marquez continues.

omgukilledkenny SG

Barcelona say Arsenal are refusing to cash in on Cesc Fabregas and they may have to wait until next summer to do a deal.

New Barca president Sandro Rosell says talks between the two clubs have stalled completely and he cannot see them re-opening anytime soon as relations are strained.

Arsenal are still fuming with the way Barca tried to unsettle Fabregas earlier in the summer and Rosell says the Gunners have no intention of doing business.

"Arsenal feels very hurt by Barca," said Rosell to Catalan TV3. "They don't want to listen to offers or sell and they are not putting the player (Fabregas) on the market.

"There was a strong dispute a few months ago and they have not forgotten it."

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stellazio SG

Barca only screwed themselves by disrespecting Arsenal over and over again over the past few months. Really unethical, unprofessional and shows a lack of class.

dukedracula SG

but arsenal is also screwed i reckon, liverpool may be a mid table team this coming season but man city with its money may be able to realise their intentions, at the expense of arse...

Poignant SG

i think barce made a mistake by screaming and shouting that they want cesc, if they were to go by the books, handle the matter step by step.. who knows they might be able to capture cesc in the end.

but then again, it's not over yet, the transfer window is still early in the beginning.

zocoss SG

Wenger - wants Fabregas talk to stop.

Arsene Wenger has declared speculation linking Cesc Fabregas with a move to Barcelona "has to stop" - and is confident his captain will remain at Arsenal next season.

The Gunners opened their pre-season campaign with a comfortable 4-0 win at npower League Two side Barnet, but Wenger continued to be dogged by the question of the future of his talisman, who has been given some extra time off after the World Cup

Fabregas, who has five years still to run on his contract, may have told Wenger before the World Cup he wanted to return to the Nou Camp, but Arsenal remain determined to retain the services of their captain and have already knocked back one £30million offer.

Indeed, new Barcelona president Sandro Rosell admitted the Spanish club would not "go mad" to land their former youth team player - who was embarrassingly forced into a Barcelona shirt during Spain's victory celebrations in Madrid - in time for the new campaign.

The Arsenal fans displayed an X-rated anti-Barcelona banner at Underhill, and Wenger had been left equally unimpressed by the public courting of his captain, as a string of Barcelona players, many of whom are international team-mates of the World Cup winner, urged Fabregas to complete a move 'home' to the club he left as a 16-year-old.

"There was a lot of unneeded talk. It is not pleasant to read that every day. Now, the story has to stop," Wenger declared.

"Cesc is our captain, he is so important to us and we want to keep him, that is why we were not listening to any offers.

"It was not a problem of money, just the desire to keep him at the club."

The Arsenal boss continued: "We can only influence our own behaviour, and I believe things have now gone straight again with Sandro Rosell.

"We always had a consistent attitude and were always reluctant to talk about Cesc's departure.

"It is very important we give the impression that just because somebody wants a player from us, we do not just give in."

Whether or not Fabregas can be persuaded to stay on for at least one more season remains to be seen, with the Spaniard not due to link up with the Arsenal squad again until the Emirates Cup on July 31/August 1.

However, Wenger said: "We have shown our love and care for Cesc since the start.

"I believe Cesc loves the club, has shown his attachment to the club many times and I am very confident the story will end there.

"We want Cesc to be part of our club next year, and that is it."

Arsenal gave debuts to summer signings Laurent Koscielny and Marouane Chamakh on Saturday afternoon as the Gunners ran out comfortable winners, with youngster Jay Simpson netting a first-half double.

Goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, who has seen his position as Arsenal number one come under question over the summer, was absent from the squad because of illness.

Arsenal have been linked with a £4million move for Fulham's Australian international Mark Schwarzer.

When asked whether he was interested in a deal, Wenger replied: "Not really", before adding: "We are still looking at various situations, but I would not like to come out on any individuals.

"At the moment, in pre-season, there is no number one - you have to give a chance to everyone to show how good he is. You cannot decide that today."

The Arsenal manager continued: "It was an opportunity to see everybody, including some young players.

"Both new signings did well over the 45 minutes, Koscielny adjusted slowly to the required challenges in the air, and you could see Chamakh was very good at bringing players in, and with creative midfielders, that will be suited to our game."

The Arsenal manager maintained Arsenal were "still active in the transfer market", but would not be drawn on targets - which are said to include free agent Joe Cole and Udinese centre-half Cristian Zapata.

Wenger, though, confirmed he expected both William Gallas and Mikael Silvestre to leave with their contracts now expired, but veteran Sol Campbell could yet sign a one-year deal.

The Arsenal manager's own future has to be resolved soon, with his current agreement finishing in the summer of 2011.

He said: "I don't think anyone can question my own commitment to this club.

"The important thing is the feeling that I have, that I do well enough for the club."

zocoss SG

Getting shirty: Cesc Fabregas may be forced to hand in a transfer request to earn his dream move to Barcelona

Getting shirty: Cesc Fabregas may be forced to hand in a transfer request to earn his dream move to Barcelona

Cesc Fabregas refusing to take no for an answer on his dream move to Barcelona and may be forced to make an official transfer request.

This follows manager Arsene Wenger's assertion his skipper will not be off to the Nou Camp this summer.

Barca are ready to spend the lion's share of their £42.5million transfer budget on the 23-year-old midfielder but manager Pep Guardiola said: 'I totally understand that Arsenal are reluctant to let go of a player like Cesc Fabregas.

'If they don't want to negotiate, he won't come.

'We'd love to see him ply his trade at Barcelona next term.'

On his way: Eduardo is set to leave Arsenal for £6million

One player on the verge of leaving Arsenal is Eduardo, with the Croatia international's £6m move to Shakhtar Donesk close to completion.

Eduardo had a medical at Arsenal's training ground on Monday conducted by Shakhtar staff to ensure he has fully recovered from the shocking ankle injury he suffered in February 2008.

reyes SG

if barca doesnt have 50million pound, then dont talk about buying cesc from arsenal.

all the kpkp is fruitless without tabulate an offer arsenal cannot refuse.

on arsenal pt, no pt to keep a player who had set his heart on barca, might as well work on deal that get as much money from barca.