Barcelona set £35m limit for Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas

 

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has declared the club will offer no more than £35 million for Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

The Spain international has once again been the subject of interest from Pep Guardiola's side, and the president of the La Liga and Champions League winners has revealed an offer has been made for the Gunners' captain.

Arsene Wenger, however, has insisted his midfielder will be remaining in north London this summer and has no intention of selling the 24-year-old.

"I do not know if we will sign Cesc or not. I have no doubt he is keen to come to Barca," Rosell told TV3 on Monday.

"We have offered less than €40 million [£35m] and if Arsenal do not yield, well then Cesc will not come."

Arsenal will have to pay at least £12m for Blackburn Rovers' Christopher Samba

 

Arsenal will have to pay £2 million more than they had prepared for Blackburn Rovers' centre-back Christopher Samba after it emerged 15 per cent of his transfer fee will go to his former club Hertha Berlin, the Daily Mail report.

The Gunners are interested in the Congolese defender and according to the paper they will have to pay at least £12m to get their man.

It had been widely reported that the Londoners were trying to thrash out a £10m deal with Blackburn but the Lancashire club are likely to want more as they will owe money to Samba's former side.

Blackburn are reluctant to sell their centre-half so soon after Phil Jones moved to Manchester United, but both Arsenal and Tottenham are keen on the 27-year-old, who recently confirmed that he would consider leaving Ewood Park this summer.

Representatives of Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas to meet Barcelona this week

Cesc Fabregas could secure his dream move back to Barcelona with his representatives set to meet the European Champions this week, according to The Times.

Fabregas will arrive in Madrid on Wednesday morning to shoot a TV commercial with Spain team-mates Xabi Alonso and David Villa and the Arsenal star has not changed his desire to move to Camp Nou this summer.

The report claims the 24-year-old's representatives will fly to Barcelona to try and negotiate a deal between the clubs, with the Gunners having demanded around £48m for the Spanish International's services.

It is believed Fabregas and Wenger had a "gentleman's agreement" last summer which meant the midfielder would remain in London until the end of this season.

The report claims the Arsenal star will not submit a written transfer request but will make a public plea to the Catalans.

Fabregas' contract has four years still to run and he has been regularly linked with a move to Barcelona. In previous years, he has dropped public hints about his desire to move back to the club he left at 16.

Arsenal have always made it clear that Fabregas will not be for sale and the Gunners have already increased their valuation to £8m more than Barcelona were willing to spend on him last summer.

However, the midfielder has always made it clear he wants to return to Catalonia and has even called it his 'spiritual home'.

He said last year: “I am a club member, along with my grandfather, my uncle and my cousin. I feel those colours and have since I was young. I am Catalan.”

The report also claims that Real Madrid are also interested in signing the 24-year-old and will monitor developments over the summer.

Arsene Wenger's future at Arsenal will be decided by the fans - Ivan Gazidis

 

Arsenal's chief exectuive Ivan Gazidis has admitted Arsene Wenger's future at the Emirates will ultimately be decided by the club's supporters.

The Gunners have gone another season without a trophy and the under-fire Frenchman has been given the backing of his American chief executive, who was meeting 200 fans at a Supporters Trust meeting.

Gazidis believes Wenger has done well given the financial circumstances at the club and has backed the coach to succeed again in North London.

He said: "Arsene is ultimately accountable to the fans - they ultimately make judgment.

"If you are ever seeing the relationship between the fans and the manager break down over time then that is unsustainable, but I don't think we are anywhere near that."

"We 100 per cent support Arsene - I 100% support him and feel he has done a fantastic job in a difficult period for this club."

Gazidis added: "You have to remember that we have been up against clubs with unlimited spending power and others such as Manchester United who generate far greater revenue than we do."

Arsenal & Liverpool target Gervinho will not be moving to a French rival but could join an English club - Lille director of football

 

Gervinho, the in-demand Ivorian, will not be sold to a rival French side, according to Lille director of football Frederic Paquet.

The striker's future has been the subject of much talk of late after another excellent season as he thrived as a part of Lille's front three - alongside the exciting young Belgian Eden Hazard and powerhouse centre-forward Moussa Sow - with the club going on to capture the title.

Now the player seems destined to leave - both Arsenal and Liverpool have been linked, and Paris St Germain, after a season of much improvement, have also been mentioned as a possible destination - and Lille insist that while they are not opposed to a transfer he will not be allowed to move to domestic rivals.

"PSG recently enquired about Gervinho, but they were told we do not wish to sell him to a French club," Paquet told La Voix Du Nord.

"Gervinho's future is uncertain. He could join an English side, or he could stay with us.

"He has to decide exactly what he wants. We are not opposed to the idea of a transfer, but the agreement has to suit us.

"We have yet to receive an offer or proposal."

Arsene Wenger understands Arsenal fans' disappointment but will not change philosophy or way club is run: We get it 95% right

 

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed he understands why fans are frustrated after a disappointing season but will not necessarily change the way he runs the club.

The Gunners finished yet another season without a trophy – their sixth in a row – after fighting on four fronts.

Wenger's men lost in the final of the League Cup, before being knocked out of the Champions League and FA Cup in the space of a week, and fell 12 points adrift of Manchester United to finish in fourth.

However, Wenger believes that there is nothing wrong with the philosophical approach from the club and only minor tweaks need to be made.

"The criticism has been sharper this year because of the impatience of people," Wenger told Arsenal TV Online.

"People are used to us being in the Champions League so we have to give them more, but we're not capable of doing that.

"People love what we do but they want us to be rewarded so that they can be convinced we do things the right way. They want proof that we do things the right way.

"For our fans the frustration was that we were so close to convincing everybody of how football can be great, but in the end not being able to deliver.

"I would call it disappointed love. It was cruel and sometimes you get excessive responses to that. I share that and understand it.

"But that doesn't mean we have to change our philosophy or the way the club is run.

"We get it 95 per cent right, but we must gain that 5% because it's so frustrating to flirt with success like we have done.

"The fans are unhappy that we didn't win the Premier League, but we are close.

"In 2003 we were also the best away team, but didn't win. We kept going and in 2004 we were very strong."

Wenger highlighted a poor run in April which saw the Gunners pick up just two points from three matches, ultimately ending their title challenge.

"I was happy with the attitude of the players and our away form," he said.

"But what was disappointing was that when we needed to push on, we could not show the nerves to deal well with some games.

"I'm thinking about Liverpool, Tottenham and Bolton. We had good opportunities to win those games and had we done, that would have been seven points more."

The Gunners conceded a total of 41 goals – a sign of weakness in otherwise a strong team and the absence of centre-back Thomas Vermaelen for most of the season certainly did not help their cause.

Wenger believes that most of the problems came from set-pieces and has identified the need for taller defenders if they are to continue the challenge next season.

"We conceded very few goals from open play, most of them were from set pieces in a way you don't want to concede goals," he said.

"It's something that's easy to correct. We need to improve the size of our squad. We need a bigger variety in the height of our players.

"We need to be more capable of fighting against some characteristics than we have been this season."

Arsenal close to signing Swedish starlet Kristoffer Olsson, IFK Norrkopping director admits

Arsenal are close to signing Swedish Under 16 talent Kristoffer Olsson, according to IFK Norrkopping's sporting director.

The midfielder has reportedly impressed Arsene Wenger during a number of try-outs with the team, with a permanent move looking likely with the youngster wanting to join the Gunners.

Norrkopping sporting director Tony Martinsson told Fotbolldirekt: "Sure, it's good money for the club. We would prefer that our players stay in Norrkopping and grow to be first-team players.

"But in this case Kristoffer wants a move, and we will make that happen.

"[A contract] could take days, it could take weeks. It could take longer. We will keep this to ourselves until it's done."

Feyenoord keen to keep Arsenal’s Ryo Miyaichi on loan for another season, technical director Martin van Geel confirms

Feyenoord technical director Martin van Geel has revealed the Dutch giants would "love" to keep Arsenal's young Japanese midfielder Ryo Miyaichi on loan for another season and are now waiting on a response from the Gunners.

Arsenal beat off a host of top European clubs to sign Miyaichi last January after he impressed on trial the previous summer, and Arsene Wenger immediately decided to loan the youngster to Feyenoord to gain European experience.

The 18-year-old winger has since been a revelation in the Eredivisie, with his dazzling skills and trickery earning him the nickname "Ryodinho" from the Dutch media in honour of Barcelona and Brazilian legend Ronaldinho.

Miyaichi's impressive form has reportedly led Arsene Wenger to consider giving him a chance of first-team football at the Emirates Stadium next season, but Feyenoord believe further experience in the Netherlands would benefit the youngster.

Van Geel confirmed his club have made an inquiry into the possibility of keeping Miyaichi for another season, but admitted the decision now rests with Arsenal.

"We would love to have him here on loan for a year," Van Geel told Voetbal International.

"Arsenal know we are good for him. Now we can only wait for their answer."