Barcelona to keep pressing Arsenal for Fabregas

Barcelona are considering their next move in the bid to sign Cesc Fabregas after the English side rejected their offer of 35 million euros for the Spanish midfielder, Barcelona president Joan Laporta said on Friday.

“It is a price that we consider to be market value. Arsenal rejected it and now our technical secretary (Txiki Begiristain) should decide what will happen next,” he told reporters.

“The lines of communication are still open. I am very confident that Arsenal will end up understanding the situation. For Cesc the best thing would be to complete the transfer as soon as possible, before the start of the World Cup.

“But I recognise that it will be complicated because Arsenal are totally within their rights to stand firm and we have to respect that.”

Arsenal on Wednesday rejected Barcelona’s offer for the 23-year-old, who still has four years left on his contract with the English club.

Asked about the possibility of Fabregas “buying out” the remaining time on his contract with Arsenal, Laporta said: “I am not sure that Cesc would want to enter into that.”

“We want to reach an agreement by talking to Arsenal rather than look at legal measures. We respect Arsenal a great deal and we will continue to talk and go down that path,” he added.

Under FIFA’s transfer regulations, players under the age of 28 who have served three years of a long-term contract can “buy out” the remaining time on their deal in order to move to another club.

Fabregas, who has 48 caps for Spain, began his career in Barcelona’s youth academy before joining Arsenal aged 16.

But it is thought the Spain midfielder has grown tired of Arsenal’s failure to win a single major trophy over the last five seasons and would relish the opportunity to link up with the likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta.

Last month Barcelona boosted their squad for next season by adding Spanish striker David Villa from Valencia for 40 million euros.