Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Arsenal will 'give way' over Fabregas say Barcelona

Tuesday 22 June 2010 11:40 BST
Comments
Barcelona cannot spend as freely as they would like
Barcelona cannot spend as freely as they would like (GETTY IMAGES)

Outgoing president Joan Laporta believes it is inevitable that Cesc Fabregas will leave Arsenal for Barcelona this summer.

Laporta, who will shortly be replaced in the Camp Nou hot-seat by Sandro Rosell, fully expects the north London club to 'give way' and let their captain return to his former club.

Barca have already seen one bid in the region of £25million rejected by the Gunners for the 23-year-old midfielder.

That is despite Fabregas reportedly informing manager Arsene Wenger of his desire to return to the Catalan club following seven years in north London.

Meanwhile Laporta, who will leave office at the end of June, fully expects the deal to be completed. However, he has accepted that the protracted nature of the transfer means it is more likely to be completed on Rosell's watch.

"We'll keep trying and if it's not us who do it, the new board will, if they feel it's something they want to continue with," he said on the club's official website.

"I think Arsenal will gave way - but I don't know when and we just have to wait and let the professionals who are dealing with it get on with the job they've been given."

Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque admitted there was still much more to come from his side after they struggled to overcome Honduras 2-0 on Monday evening.

It was a vital result following last week's 1-0 defeat to Switzerland and came courtesy of a David Villa brace, who also later missed a penalty.

However, Spain could still miss out on a place in the last 16 as they face an impressive Chile team in their final group match on Friday.

Del Bosque said: "We certainly paved the way for the third group match against Chile, but this hasn't been a great match.

"We had glorious opportunities, many opportunities, we should have won the game by more goals so I'm not entirely satisfied.

"I felt we've played well against Switzerland and Honduras but in both matches we lacked the finishing touch.

"We will suffer more against Chile if we continue to play like that."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in