BARCELONA HAVE ENSURED that any deal to sign Cesc Fabregas won’t be done quickly by offering Arsenal a paltry £27million for their brilliant captain.
The 24-year-old has repeatedly been linked, and linked, and linked again with a return to his hometown club but has so far stuck with a team that gives regular games to Abou Diaby and Sebastien Squillaci.
It seems that this summer he will cry ‘no more’ and head back home, but it could take a while. Arsenal want £50m but cash-strapped Barca insist that they will not pay a penny above the £35m they offered last summer.
The Daily Mail reports that Barcelona vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu met Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis in London last week and was promptly told ‘thanks, but no thanks.’
The Gunners believe their talisman is worth at least the same as his Spanish international team-mate Fernando Torres and that concerns over the long-term fitness of Xavi will make Sandro Rosell and company more and more desperate to land their man.
(But you won’t see it popping up on any yellow tickers until the last seconds of the transfer window.)
