Arsenal are negotiating to sell Cesc Fabregas and Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola says he is confident of landing the him very soon.
That’s the claim in the Sun this morning, which says the Catalans are close to getting their man despite seeing a £31.6million bid backed by AW.
Guardiola said: “We wanted Cesc last year but Arsenal did not put him on the market. This year, they have agreed to negotiate and we’ll try to reach a deal. There is money put aside for Cesc and, until the last day, we will try to bring him in because he will make the squad better. Until August 31 there is time but things don’t always work out.”
The Mirror reports that Cesc has made it clear to AW that he wants to join Barca but that AW won’t be bullied into selling on the cheap. So he may be forced to stay at Arsenal unless Barcelona come up with the wonga.Fabregas is almost certain now to miss our friendly in Cologne on Saturday as the paper says “he insists he is not fully fit and is also waiting on Barcelona to make their next move”.
The paper adds that AW is trying to line up replacements for Fabregas and is chasing Bolton’s Gary Cahill, “although the £17m price is a sticking point”.
Other yarns doing the rounds this morning suggest that Arsenal have stepped up interest in Sao Paulo full-back Bruno Uvini, 20, and that we are in advanced talks with Bayern Munich for the signature of France ace Franck Ribery.
Meanwhile, Arsenal’s youngsters hammered non-league Hastings United last night with a riotous 9-0 win on the south coast.
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