Barca to respect Arsenal’s Fab decision

(GSM) – Barcelona sporting vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu has said that the defending Spanish champions will “respect” Arsenal’s wish not to sell Cesc Fabregas.

The Catalan giants had already failed with a €35 million offer for their academy graduate earlier this summer and had conveyed the message, via club officials or players, that they believed the deal for Fabregas would be done.

However, Barca’s bullish approach to the Fabregas deal under former president Joan Laporta was not viewed favourably by Arsenal with his successor, Sandro Rosell, trying to adopt a more conciliatory tone.

And the new president, Rosell, recently admitted that a deal may be unlikely this summer, even if he remains convinced Fabregas will join the club within 12 months.

The Catalan press reported on Friday that Fabregas will again inform Wenger of his desire to leave, having returned to London following a holiday in Greece, but Bartomeu has suggested that with Arsenal still refusing to negotiate, Barca do not expect a transfer to happen before the close of the summer transfer window.

“Both [sporting director] Andoni Zubizarreta and coach Pep Guardiola want Fabregas, but it is very difficult to return to an improved relationship with Arsenal,” Bartomeu told Sport.

“We talked to the club and they told us that Fabregas was non-transferable. And there are no imminent negotiations in place because they do not want to sell.

“We would like very much that the relationship between Fabregas and his manager, Arsene Wenger, return to normal. And we respect Arsenal’s decision not to sell.”