Barça hope £35m will bag Fabregas

Cesc Fabregas' likely departure will be more depressing news for Arsenal fans (Getty)

Barcelona are expected to make an offer to Arsenal of around £35m for Cesc Fabregas this week, their third bid of the summer, which it is anticipated will finally prompt the endgame of the long-running transfer saga around the club's captain.

While Arsenal have always maintained a valuation on Fabregas of £40m, the expectation is that the clubs will meet at around £37m and the player will be permitted to leave with Arsène Wenger's blessing. The 24-year-old midfielder has had the agreement of the Arsenal manager that he can go once Barcelona make an offer that is acceptable to the club.

Barcelona's long pursuit of their former academy player has ultimately come down to price this summer. They have had two preliminary offers of £27m and £31m rejected. The £40m benchmark has been maintained by Arsenal throughout the process but, with Barça now so close, it is expected that they will finally accept an offer marginally short of that.

The Arsenal squad will go to Germany on Friday for the squad's pre-season training camp, including a game against Cologne on Saturday, and Fabregas will not expect to be on that trip if negotiations come to fruition this week. He missed the tour of the Far East earlier this month with injury. Wenger said on Sunday that the Spaniard (left) was not even back training with the squad.

The club's position on Fabregas is that if an agreement is reached with Barcelona this week then Samir Nasri will be told that he will not be allowed to leave this summer. The France international has an offer in principle from Manchester City for this transfer window but will be able to leave for free in a year's time, potentially an even more lucrative deal.

Another gap opened up in Wenger's squad yesterday when he let the 23-year-old midfielder Denilson go on loan to Sao Paulo. Outspoken in the past about losing his place, Denilson was completely overshadowed by Jack Wilshere last season. Arsenal are expected to sign the 19-year-old Costa Rica striker Joel Campbell from Deportivo Saprissa. The club's de facto director of football Dick Law has been in central America to oversee a £900,000 fee for the player.

Gervinho has signed a five-year deal after his £11m signing from Lille and will be on the trip to Germany. The striker said that working with Wenger was a key part of his decision. "When you are young, you always want to improve, to work with great managers – and Arsène Wenger is one of the best in the world," he said.