Barcelona to fax through £30m offer for Cesc Fabregas to Arsenal today

EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent

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Barcelona are preparing to make their first official approach to Arsenal to sign Cesc Fabregas today by faxing through an offer in the region of £30 million, Goal.com UK can reveal.

The La Liga champions will make their first formal move after informing Arsenal last week that they were interested in prising the midfielder from Emirates Stadium.

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The north Londoners are certain to reject the offer as they reinforce their stance to hang on to Fabregas.

FABREGAS TRANSFER TIMELINE THURSDAY MAY 13 Fabregas: I would like to go to Barca TUESDAY MAY 18 Fabregas flies to London for face-to-face talks with Wenger & says he wants to leave Arsenal WEDNESDAY MAY 19 Txiki Begiristain says Fabregas will definitely move to the Nou Camp soon but Arsenal claim they are yet to receive an offer from Barcelona FRIDAY MAY 21 Peter Hill-Wood tells Goal.com that Arsenal will "do their damnedest" to keep Fabregas while Begiristain confirms Barca will make an approach MONDAY MAY 24 Barcelona fax a £30m offer to Arsenal Read the definitive timeline in full

Barcelona are convinced that Fabregas will join them this summer after he flew into London from his Spanish base last week to tell manager Arsene Wenger of his desire to leave the club and return to his boyhood team.

The Catalans believe it is only a matter of time before they agree a deal, although the negotiations could become protracted as Arsenal hold out for a £50m fee for a player they believe is one of the most sought after in the world.

Wenger and the Arsenal board retain the hope that Fabregas can be talked around and, if not, they will hold out for a fee of record-breaking proportions.

Chairman Peter Hill-Wood became the first Arsenal official to go on the record last Friday as he told Goal.com UK that the board have made it clear to Barcelona that the player is not for sale and questioned the La Liga champions’ “funny” tactics of pursuing the player through the Spanish media.

“The message has been given to them we don’t want to lose him and will do our damnedest to keep him,” said Hill-Wood. “We haven’t had an official approach from them and have made it perfectly clear we don’t want to lose him.”

If it becomes clear that Fabregas will not return to the club that he has graced for seven years since moving to Arsenal as a 16-year-old, the Gunners will hold out as long as possible in order to drive up the price.

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• Comment: Face it - Fabregas and the world's best players will always prefer La Liga flair to the Premier League
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• Comment: Why there won't be a better time for Cesc Fabregas to leave Arsenal for Barcelona

The feeling at Emirates Stadium is that if Fabregas goes on to star in the World Cup then the player’s value could be driven up towards the £80m figure that Real Madrid paid for Cristiano Ronaldo last summer.

It emerged today that the Spanish FA have given Barcelona the green light to negotiate with Fabregas in the build-up to the World Cup - meaning a deal could be struck by 9 June - the day after Spain's final warm-up match against Poland.

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