Real Madrid and Barcelona bid 50M £ for Cesc Fabregas

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas will spark a bidding war between Barcelona and Real Madrid during the January transfer window.

Accrording to The Daily Express, both Spanish giants are prepared to start a bidding war on Fabregas at £50million.

Fabregas, who has stated his desire to fight for Arsenal's cause, has been repeatedly linked with a move back to Spain for the past three seasons.

But the longer Arsenal remain trophyless, the more Fabregas will be linked with a move away from the Emirates.

If he does move, it has been reported that Barcelona, the club where he started his youth career, would be clear favourites. Marca has claimed the club's vice president, Sandro Rosell, has had positive talks with Arsenal's hierarchy.

But Real Madrid have been encouraged by an interview Fabregas gave last summer when he said:

"Naturally my family would understand if I signed for Real Madrid - they love me, they want me to be happy."

Real Madrid sporting director Miguel Pardeza:"Real Madrid are not interested in signing Cesc Fabregas"

Real Madrid are not interested in signing Cesc Fabregas from Arsenal, according to the club's sporting director Miguel Pardeza.

The Spanish giants insist they will not bid for the Arsenal playmaker even if they fail in their quest to land Liverpool's Xabi Alonso.

Real have consistently been linked with a move for Fabregas but it seems former club Barcelona are favourites to snare him if he does leave the Emirates.

"He is a great player, there's no doubt about that. But at this moment he is not an target for Real Madrid. The club are working on other alternatives,'' he said.

Pardeza also confirmed negotiations with Liverpool over Alonso had reached an impasse, but that they still hadn't given up hope of resolving the situation.

"Madrid must not discard an option until it's totally gone. Now there is an insurmountable financial barrier, but it's something that could change. We're looking for alternatives, although there aren't many.''

Madrid have already spent close to £200million on four new signings - Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Raul Albiol - this summer but are still looking to add a couple more players as they seek a return to winning ways after ending last season empty-handed.

"I'm staying" says Wenger

Arsene Wenger will continue as Arsenal manager and spurn the advances of Spanish giants Real Madrid, according to quotes from the Frenchman.

Wenger is understood to be Madrid presidential candidate Florentino Perez's first choice to become the club's new manager next season should he be elected this summer.

News of Perez's interest coincided with growing frustration amongst Arsenal fans about Wenger's management; the club are without a trophy in four years and some are losing patience with the 59-year-old.

Last week Wenger was involved in a heated exchange at a shareholders meeting where his players were accused of lacking backbone and recent signing Mikael Silvestre was branded ''geriatric''.

On Tuesday chairman Peter Hill-Wood described those comments as ''out of order'' and added that he expected Wenger to at least see out his current contract, which expires in 2011.

Despite previously describing Real's advances as ''strongly interesting'' Wenger is quoted in Wednesday's Daily Mail insisting that he has no plans to quit the Emirates.

''There's nothing to worry about, it's not an issue for me,'' he told the paper. ''I'm staying here. If that changes I will let you know, but don't worry about that. It's not an issue.''

Sneijder is out with knee injury

Sneijder gets a knee injury.Real Madrid midfielder Wesley Sneijder's left knee injury will rule him out for three months, a relief to the player and club who had feared a longer absence.
Hour-long tests at a Madrid hospital on Monday showed that Sneijder did not tear ligaments when he was challenged clumsily by Arsenal's Abou Diaby in a preseason friendly match at Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
"I am very happy," Sneijder said.
Sneijder's reduced absence means he should be available to play in the latter games of the Champions League group phase, as Madrid aims for a record 10th European Cup title.
The 24-year-old former Ajax player has been preparing for his second season at Madrid, which kicks off with a Spanish Supercup first leg against Copa del Rey winner Valencia on Aug. 17. Madrid's league title defense begins with a trip to Deportivo La Coruna on Aug. 30 or 31

Match Report:Arsenal 1-0 Real Madrid [Emirates Cup]

A weekend of brilliant football in London drew to a close on Sunday with a thriller. Two of the top teams in Europe head to head with the primary objective of fine tuning their game heading into their respective season openers. Hamburg clinched the second edition of the Emirates Cup with Arsenal's defeat over Real Madrid, who finished second ahead of the hosts and Juventus.

Match Report:
Arsenal: Almunia; Diaby (Ramsey, 73’), Sagna, Senderos, Gallas (Djourou, 88’); Nasri (Wilshere, 74’), Van Persie (Eboue, 64’), Denilson, Clichy, Adebayor (Bendtner, 74’) & Walcott (Vela, 64’).

Real Madrid: Dudek; Salgado, Heinze, Javi García, Torres; Diarra (De la Red, 78’), Guti, Callejón (Sneijder, 46’ (Parejo, 60’), Baptista (Robben, 46’); Robinho (Saviola, 60’) & Raúl (Van Nistelrooy, 46’).

Goals: 1-0, min. 48. Adebayor

Highlights: