Barca will not pay ?50m for FabregasNew Barcelona president Sandro Rosell maintains the club will not be bullied into paying over the odds to prise Cesc Fabregas away from Arsenal this summer.
The Catalan club have made Fabregas their number one target after signing Spain striker David Villa earlier this summer and Rosell is still hopeful the midfielder will become his first capture as Barca president.
But Rosell says Barca will not be held to ransom by Arsenal. "We will never pay ?50 or ?60 million for Cesc,'' the Barca president told radio station RAC1.
Barcelona have already had a bid of ?35 million turned down by Arsenal for a player that came through the youth ranks at the Nou Camp before moving to north London aged 16.
It is thought the Catalans are now willing to pay ?40 million to buy back the midfielder, but Arsenal are in no hurry to sell.
In Barca's favour, however, is the player's desire to leave north London and return to the Nou Camp.
"The whole world knows he wants to come and that we want to sign him,'' Rosell said. "It's a topic that has become so public and that's the worst thing you can do with a transfer, because it makes the selling club raise their expectations and you end up paying over the odds."
Rosell, who formally succeeded Joan Laporta as president last week, will seek talks with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who is commentating for French television at the World Cup.
"I assure you I will try and talk with him in South Africa,'' he said.
Barca coach Pep Guardiola is also out in South Africa at the moment and reportedly met up with Fabregas at Spain's training camp at the weekend, while Rosell was pictured with members of the player's family at the Moto GP in Catalonia this weekend.
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