Barcelona to offer Arsenal £40m for Fabregas

The first shot has been fired in what could be the biggest transfer saga of 2010, after Barcelona president Joan Laporta revealed the club will "fight" to bring Cesc Fabregas back to the Camp Nou in the summer.

The 22-year-old Arsenal skipper was a youth team player with the Catalans, but was lured to London at the tender age of 16 and has been a Gunner ever since. But now Barcelona want him back and Laporta announced: "Barcelona have decided to fight for the kid for next season."

He did not say how much the Catalans would be prepared to pay for the player, but said the funding would be decided by the end of March

"Cesc is such a big player. Our intention is to convince the Londoners about the sale. It won't be easy but we have good relations with the Gunners," he added.

It is believed that Barcelona will try and "convince" Arsene Wenger to sell by offering him £40m in cash, or £30m plus the services of Yaya Toure - the brother of former Gunners defender Kolo.

An even bigger financial deal is in the offing in West London, where Chelsea are close to securing a deal with Bayern Munich for French midfield star Franck Ribery. According to the Daily Mail, Bayern's new president Uli Hoeness is ready to cash in on Chelsea target Ribery if the France star does not sign a new contract in the next few weeks.

The 26-year-old Frenchman, who joined Bayern from Marseille in the summer of 2007, is contracted to the German club until 2011 but Hoeness is quoted as saying: "If Ribery does not extend his contract by the spring, it would be unjustifiable to keep him at the club."

Ribery has been plagued by a knee injury for much of the season - which kept him out of France's controversial World Cup play-off tie against Ireland – but nonetheless the Mail says that "Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is ready to sanction a £45 million move".

The Daily Mirror reports that Spurs might be on the verge of signing Serbia's answer to Peter Crouch – excet that Valencia striker Nikola Zigic is an inch taller than the 6ft 7in England striker. The papers says that Tottenham "have been sounded out by Valencia sporting director Fernando Gomez" as to the possibility of signing Zigic and that Spurs' boss Harry Redknapp likes the idea of the 'twin towers', particularly as Robbie Keane is looking to join Celtic.

Reports in the Mirror also speculate that Redknapp "could be tempted" to make a £6 million move for Wigan left-back Maynor Figueroa when the January transfer window opens. Even though money is tight at White Hart Lane, "Redknapp is ready to wheel and deal to raise the funds by selling Gareth Bale".

Liverpool aren't the first Premier League to be linked recently with Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, but according to the Daily Mail the Reds will take him on loan for six months in January. The Dutchman, who this week had his tonsils removed, is desperate to be shot of Real Madrid and the Mail says that though Arsenal and Blackburn have been mooted as possible destinations for van Nistelrooy, the former Man Utd star is believed to favour a move to Anfield. ·