- Cesc Fabregas is expected to complete his transfer to Barcelona next week
- The $57m move will end one of the longest transfer sagas in recent years
- Rumors are rife that Samir Nasir will also leave Arsenal for Manchester City
(CNN) -- The long-running saga of Cesc Fabregas' move from Arsenal to Barcelona is finally nearing a conclusion with the 24-year-old expected to join the European champions early next week.
Rumors were rife in both the English and Spanish media that Fabregas was jetting over to Spain on Friday to complete a $57 million move to the Catalan giants.
However, with Barcelona facing rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup on Sunday, it is now believed Fabregas will make the journey on Sunday in preparation for the move to be completed early next week.
Big kick-off: Who will win Europe's top leagues?
Fabregas joined Arsenal in 2003, after spending his youth career at Barca's famous La Masia academy, and helped the club beat Manchester United to win the FA Cup in 2005.
He was also in the Arsenal side that lost to Barcelona in the Champions League final in Paris in 2006.
However, he has never hidden his desire to return to his boyhood club at some stage of his career -- and that wish now seems on the verge of being realised.
The Spanish World Cup midfielder will be Barca coach Pep Guardiola's second signing in the current transfer window, following the acquisition of Chile winger Alexis Sanchez from Italian Serie A side Udinese.
Reports in the British press have suggested Fabregas might not be the last high-profile player to leave the Gunners this off-season, with France's Samir Nasri tipped to move to Manchester City.
Fabregas plays alongside many of his potential new teammates for Vicente del Bosque's national side and was part of Spain's victorious squads in South Africa last year and at the European Championships in 2008.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has added three new faces to his squad, with Ivory Coast striker Gervinho arriving from Lille and teenagers Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Carl Jenkinson arriving from Southampton and Charlton respectively.
And, on Friday, Arsenal confirmed on their official website they had agreed to sign 19-year-old Costa Rican striker Joel Campbell.
In other transfer news, Liverpool have completed the signing of Newcastle's Spanish left-back Jose Enrique for a fee in the region of $10 million
CNN sports news today cricket wireless news CNN ipl cricket news CNN west indies cricket news CNN golf news CNN cricket games
No comments:
Post a Comment