Barca: 2 weeks to pay for Cesc

BARCELONA have two weeks to meet Arsenal's £40million asking price for Cesc Fabregas.

Otherwise the unsettled Spanish midfield star will stay put at the Emirates.

Last night a top Barca source admitted: "Arsenal have let it be known that unless a deal for Cesc is sorted by the end of the month then he will stay in London.

"They said although they never wanted to sell their captain they were prepared to reluctantly accept Cesc's request to come home.

"They've insisted they have been very fair to Cesc and Barcelona and this situation is not healthy for them and has to end.

"They are not prepared to wait much longer and after staying silent throughout the summer, they will issue a public statement to draw a line under this matter at the start of next month.

"We understand there is no way they will sell Cesc for what we offered but the decision rests with our president Sandro Rossell."

Injured Fabregas, who sat out Arsenal's trip to Asia, will meet boss Arsene Wenger today after the team's return to London.

The Arsenal chief said Fabregas is set to travel with them to Cologne for a friendly next Friday - and that will heap enormous pressure on president Rossell to pay up the full asking price.

Wenger said: "We will have to see how far Cesc is with his injury.

"Normally, yes I expect him to come to Cologne. He is not back in full training, he is back running on the pitch and the next step is to be back in full training. I will have to assess him on Monday.

"He is in my plans for the rest of pre-season. The problem is we face speculation from everywhere but my target is the same, to keep the players."

So after weeks of what they see as insulting behaviour - like Xavi's statement last week that Cesc is 'suffering' at Arsenal - the Londoners have said enough is enough now.

The Catalans have so far offered £31.6m which was instantly rejected.

If Arsenal put Fabregas up for auction then Chelsea and Manchester City would certainly top £50m.

Wenger is fighting to convince Fabregas to stay and it looks increasingly likely Barcelona will miss out on him again, unless they put their money where their mouth is.