Barcelona are ready to go to £40 million for Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas.

Barcelona are ready to go to £40 million for Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas.

The Daily Star says Champions League winners Barcelona have been trying to land Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas for two years but Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has repeatedly made it clear he has no desire to sell his captain.

But the Spanish champs just refuse to go away and have agreed to up their bid by £10m in an attempt to prise him from Arsenal’s grasp.

A source close to Barca said last night: “They still have not spoken formally to Arsenal about him.

“They had wanted to do it while they were in London for the Champions League Final but it never happened. But they will not give up.”

As well as the improved cash offer for Fabregas, Barca would also allow Arsenal to choose one of their young players as part of any deal.

SOURCE: Tribalfootball

Barcelona will of course push to sign Cesc Fabregas this summer but as previously there is no compunction for Arsenal to sell so a lot depends on the Gunners captain and whether he pushes for an Emirates Stadium exit and one wonders if it makes sense for the Spanish international to leave for the Nou Camp when he would surely just end up warming the bench until Xavi calls it day, which appears to be no day soon.

This source doesn’t state which Barcelona players would be on offer to the North London club as part of the deal but the likes of Bojan, Thiago Alcantara, Nolito and Jonathan dos Santos and Ibrahim Afellay have been linked with moves to Arsenal in the past.

Wenger has his work cut out keeping Arsenal’s top players at the club with Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy both stalling on signing new contracts so he will surely do all he can to prevent his skipper leaving this summer. Pep Guardiola has stated his admiration for Fabregas but the Catalan club is apparently on a slightly uneasy financial footing and can therefore not make huge offers, hence the need to add players into the deal.

Given that Fabregas has spent eight years at Arsenal, mounting up over 300 appearances, but has managed to secure one solitary FA Cup success in the process, so one can understand if Cesc decided to leave the club but a move to Barcelona may end up being a mistake given that first team football may well be a difficulty.