Sagna: Cesc wants to join Barca

Bacary Sagna claims Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas wants to join Barcelona this summer - and hopes Samir Nasri will stay at The Emirates.

Fabregas has once again been linked with a return to the Catalan club, where he came through the youth ranks before signing for the Gunners in 2003.
Barca have failed to sign their former player in each of the last two summer transfer windows, but Sagna believes it could be a case of third time lucky for the Catalan club.
"I can say it's true that Cesc wants to go to Barca," the right-back told former Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Fernandez on France's RMC radio station.
"Fabregas wants to return to his country of birth, to his city, where his family are; he wants to play for one of the best teams in the world, Barcelona, and that's understandable.
"At the moment, however, he is still Arsenal's captain."
While Sagna believes Fabregas may leave London, the defender is hopeful Nasri will stay at the English club.
"Samir is happy at Arsenal, but I don't know what the best thing is for his career," he said.
"He has been one of the best players in the team this season and he is one of the symbols of this team. I hope to find him there when we return for (pre-season) training."
Meanwhile, Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis has told his club's fans he shares a "profound disappointment" with them but has promised a busy summer in the transfer market as the club look to end their six-year trophy drought.
What had once looked to be a quadruple bid imploded once the Gunners lost the Carling Cup final to Birmingham, and they ended the Premier League season in fourth place.
Another season without success saw some fans voice their unhappiness with manager Arsene Wenger, especially over his apparent reluctance to spend big on new signings.
But at a question and answer session with the Arsenal Supporters Trust on Monday night, Gazidis has pledged to start putting things right.
"Coming off the end of the season, I share with you a sense of profound disappointment," he said.
"It is very clear we had some shortcomings and in this close season we are going to see some turnover of players.
"Some new signings will be coming in and some of our existing squad will be going out. As Arsene has said, it will be a busy close season for the club.
"But also it is important to recognise that it has not been a disaster. We have a young squad and we don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water. The trick will be to identify which parts to keep and which parts to turn over. And we will do that within our financial capabilities."

THIAGO SILVA CLAIMS BARCA TALKS

AC Milan defender Thiago Silva has revealed he spoke to Barcelona about a potential move, but says any deal depends on the two clubs reaching an agreement.

Thiago Silva - in talks with Barcelona.

The Brazilian, who recently signed a new long-term contract and earlier this week claimed he would like to finish his career at the San Siro, now admits he is open to a Nou Camp switch.

"I have had contact with people from Barca," he told TV Esporte Interativo in his homeland.

"It's a really cool thing to be able to talk to them (but) now, I'm at Milan.

"It's been just two or three months since I renewed my contract, to the end of 2016, so they would have to speak directly with the club."

Ronaldo pledges career to Real Madrid

Cristiano Ronaldo insists that money is not his main motivation in football and would like to end his career at Real Madrid.

The Portuguese superstar has been linked with a move to big-spending Premier League side Manchester City just two years after his move to the Bernabeu from Manchester United for a world record £80 million fee.
However the 26-year-old, who scored 53 goals in all competitions for Los Merengues last season, does not envisage leaving the Spanish capital for any amount of money.
"I can't see myself leaving Madrid," he told the Cadena COPE radio station. "I'm very happy here, it has been phenomenal.
"If I was after just money I could have doubled what I have in my account.
"But for me the most important thing is how people treat you. If the (Real president Florentino Perez) told me to sign on for 10 years today, I would do it - although I don't know what will happen tomorrow."
The 2008 World Player of the Year won his first trophy in Spain after scoring the winning goal in the Copa del Rey final against Barcelona in April. However, Barca came out on top over their bitter rivals, beating Real in the Champions League semi-finals en route to lifting the trophy for the third time in six years and also retaining their league title.
Despite spending his two years in Spain in the shadow of Barca, and in particular Lionel Messi, Ronaldo is optimistic of a future in which Real are once again top dogs in Spain.
"They won (last season) because they were the best, but no team is unbeatable," he said.
"Barca have a great team and a good coach, but we'll get there. We have already shown in the cup and in other games (that we can compete). We want to beat them and difficult things bring a different pleasure."

Eurosport

La Liga - Rossi wants Barca switch: Agent

Villarreal forward Giuseppe Rossi wants to join Barcelona, but his agent denied reports that the Spanish and European champions had seen an offer rejected.

Reports in the Catalan press claimed that the US-born Italy striker was the subject of a £20 million bid that the Yellow Submarine turned down.

While Rossi, who came through the ranks at Parma and has also played for Manchester United, would love to join Pep Guardiola’s side, he insisted that nothing formal had been submitted.

Agent Federico Pastorello said that, with Tottenham and Juventus also keen, Rossi has his sights set on Barca.

"Several teams have fixed their attentions on Rossi and some of them are Italian but it would be a dream for him to play for a team like Barca," Pastorello told Premium Calcio.

"There is nothing concrete at the moment, and it would be great if there were some kind of sign on Barca's behalf.

"With an official negotiation, I believe we could reach an agreement."

Eurosport

La Liga - Malaga agree deal for Monreal

Malaga have agreed to sign Spain defender Nacho Monreal from La Liga rivals Osasuna.

The deal for the 25-year-old left back is set to be completed on Wednesday if he passes a medical, the club said on their website on Tuesday.
Monreal, who has been capped four times by the world champions, came up through the youth ranks at Osasuna. Local media reported he was moving for a fee of around six million euros (£5.3m). Malaga were bought by a member of the Qatari royal family last year and, despite finishing 11th in La Liga in May, have ambitious plans to push for European qualification next season.
Two weeks ago they signed Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy on a one-year deal.

Reuters

Chelsea could miss out on Neymar to Real Madrid over €45m price

Neymar has scored three times in five appearances for Brazil but €45m may be too high a price for Chelsea. Photograph: Paulo Whitaker/Reuters

Chelsea could be outbid by Real Madrid for the signature of Neymar unless they pay €45m (£39.7m) to Santos, according to a source closely involved in negotiations for the striker.
After reports in Spain on Tuesday stated that a deal to take Neymar to Madrid was near completion, the insider said: "If Chelsea will not pay €45m he will go to Real."
Neymar is Chelsea's prime summer target, so to miss out on a forward who has scored three goals in five Brazil appearances would cause severe frustration for the owner, Roman Abramovich. Whether the billionaire would be prepared to pay nearly £40m for a player who only made his first-team debut in 2009 and is an unproven force in European football is questionable as Chelsea were not prepared tocomment. Asked if there was sense that the Russian would be prepared to finance the deal, the source said: "No. €45m is a lot for a boy of 19."
The west London club are still searching for a successor to Carlo Ancelotti, who was sacked last month. Guus Hiddink, the Turkey coach, is thought to be the favourite, and despite consistent denials from the Dutchman, the announcement of the Turkish Football Federation president, Mahmut Ozgener, that he would not seek re-election increased speculation today that Hiddink would take charge.
However, Cees van Nieuwenhuizen, Hiddink's agent, said: "Guus has a contract with the federation. Not an individual."
While Chelsea's chief executive, Ron Gourlay, refused to be drawn on whether Hiddink will return to the club where he had a successful three-month spell in 2009, he did claim that a new manager will be in place within a fortnight.
He said: "As far as the manager is concerned, the process is going well but now is not the time for me to comment on who the next manager is going to be. We will announce things in the usual way but hopefully in the next week or two, we'll be in a position to announce who our new coach will be," he said.

Arsenal will spend £30MILLION on stars to stop fan backlash

Arsene Wenger is looking to make a £30million statement of transfer intent to head off a growing Arsenal fan backlash.

Gunners chief Wenger is close to landing £12m Ivory Coast striker Gervinho from French champions Lille.

The Arsenal boss is also keen to push through a deal for a centre-back - either Blackburn captain Christopher Samba or Bolton's Gary Cahill.

And as Emirates chief executive Ivan Gazidis implicitly accused Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy of making unacceptable wage demands, it emerged that Wenger is tracking striker Leandro Damiao of Brazilian side Internacional and AIK Stockholm's Sweden Under-21 full-back Alexander Milosevic.

Gervinho, who has also been on the wish-list of Spurs and Newcastle, looks set to be the first major arrival of the summer.

Lille general manager Frederic Paquet revealed: "He actually wants to go and expressed his desire to leave for England.

"We have developed contacts with Arsenal. We will soon discuss with them to see what they want and see what they offer - but he is a player of value."

The move comes after Gazidis and Wenger came under sustained inquisition at a meeting of Arsenal supporters.

The chief executive had to reiterate his "100 per cent support" for Wenger, who has transformed the club since his arrival in September 1996.

As some fans' groups spoke of a potential "mutiny" if Wenger did not splash the cash this summer and reap tangible reward, Gazidis was pressed on the fact that Nasri and Clichy appear to be on their way out for nominal fees - way below their true market values - this summer to avoid them walking out for nothing in 12 months time.

After insisting he did not want to "discuss individual players", Gazidis added: "Every single club makes mistakes and certainly we do as we go through the journey. But almost everybody who analyses this area looks at Arsenal as a role model for efficiency of spending.

"We try to avoid the situation where valuable players are allowed to run down their contracts but we also try to avoid the situation where spending runs to unsustainable levels.

"Sometimes those two things are inconsistent and you need to make a judgement call and draw a line. We do that as well as we can and better than most."

That means refreshing the squad, with Samba appearing the more likely defensive arrival, especially with Manchester City and their bottomless cash reserves also on Cahill's trail.

Damaio, 21, who is also a Tottenham target, ironically made his Brazil debut at the Emirates against Scotland earlier this year. He boost Wenger's fire-power and potentially open the way for Andriy Arshavin's mooted return to Russian football.

Spurs had made the running for the £10m-rated striker but Arsenal can offer him Champions League football rather than the Europa League.

Liverpool are also interested in Milosevic, who is still in his teens.