Circus and carnival: Cesc in demand

OK, so now the Cesc story has gathered pace. Again, it is based primarily on his replies to the Spanish press last week. When asked if he'd play for Barcelona if he returned to Spain, Cesc said sure, yeah, but I'm in no hurry and I'm happy at Arsenal.


He added that if anything were to happen, he'd prefer not having to think about it during the World Cup.


Later, rumours emerged that Cesc was to have a showdown chat with Arsène Wenger about his Arsenal future. According to several papers, the talks are done, and Cesc wants to leave.


This stems from what football journalist Guillem Balague has written in the Spanish sports paper Diario AS today (and on his own blog). Many of his colleagues respect him and his sources.


In the Daily Mirror, reporter John Cross writes that his own sources confirm that Fàbregas is looking to move. On Twitter, where @johncrossmirror often gives more details about sources and conversations, he writes: "Sorry, but he's going and it may get messy... The story is well sourced, believe me."


And later he adds that Arsenal's lack of transfers and his teammates' collapse at the end of the league season "have swayed him" to leave for Barcelona.


The stumbling block is the transfer fee. Barcelona are reportedly ready to offer £30 million. Arsenal are expected to want a lot more... So the Daily Mail are listing quite a number of possible makeweights from Barcelona's squad here.