Barca in search for other midfielders as Arsenal holds back Fabregas

Spanish football champions Barcelona are looking at other midfielders, now that Cesc Fabregas has again decided to stay at Arsenal.

On Friday the agent of Fabregas announced that the young midfielder will stay at Arsenal, after three months of rumours about returning to Barca — and after two formal offers from the Catalan giants.

Daily paper Sport claimed on Saturday that there was “a secret pact” between Barca and Arsenal for the Londoners to finally let Fabregas return to the Camp Nou in the summer of 2011.

Sport said that Fabregas is the “long-term successor” to Barca playmaker Xavi, now aged 30.

However, an online poll published by Sport on Saturday suggested that the Barca fans are getting tired of the soap opera, which started in the summer of 2008. When asked whether Barca should attempt to sign Fabregas in 2011, no less than 58 per cent of fans voted “no.” Fabregas left the Barca youth team in 2003, aged just 16, to join Arsenal, with Barca receiving no compensation at all. Many Barca fans are reluctant for the club to pay a massive price to bring him back.

Andoni Zubizarreta, Barca’s new technical secretary, summed up the sentiment at the club on Thursday when he said “the solution to this affair is that he should not have left (the club) in the first place.” His predecessor in the job, Txiki Begiristain, said in 2008 — when the rumours about a Fabregas return started — that “we will not pay money for a player who voluntarily left.” However, Begiristain then broke that rule, at the request of coach Pep Guardiola, by buying back defender Gerard Pique — another youngster who had left the Camp Nou — from Manchester United.

Guardiola was also keen to bring back Fabregas, and is apparently “very disappointed” with Friday’s announcement.

Guardiola is currently in China, on Barca’s money-making tour of Asia. The other bad news that he received on Friday was that Spain manager Vicente del Bosque had called up seven Barca players for next Wednesday’s friendly away to Mexico, which is just three days before Barca’s Spanish Super Cup first leg clash away to Sevilla.

According to Sport on Saturday, Barca have around 45 million euros (59 million dollars) to spend on signings — the money that would have gone to Arsenal for Fabregas.

So far, their signings have been Spain striker David Villa from Valencia, for 40 million euros, and left-back Adriano from Sevilla for 10 million.

Sport said on Saturday that the “main alternatives” to Fabregas are Germany playmaker Mesut Oezil — whose contract at Werder Bremen finishes in 2011 — Valencia forward Juan Mata and Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez.

Rival daily Mundo Deportivo, for its part, has set up an online poll for readers to vote for their preferred signings.

Twenty-one per cent have voted for Yoann Gourcuff of Girondins de Bordeaux, whilst eight per cent have voted for Everton’s Mikel Arteta, among others.