Barca reckon Cesc's value is down

SOCCER: BARCELONA BELIEVE Cesc Fabregas is now worth less after the club’s president, Sandro Rosell, claimed “wear and tear” …

SOCCER:BARCELONA BELIEVE Cesc Fabregas is now worth less after the club's president, Sandro Rosell, claimed "wear and tear" has lowered the midfielder's valuation from the €40 million fee they offered Arsenal for him, one year ago, when he was then 23.

Rosell said: ‘What is the limit for signing him? We’ll need to see. First we need to know what his salary is and what are his conditions. Everything is in relation to the salary and the transfer fee but, if last year we offered €40 million, a year has passed, it is clear that this year his value is less.

“Since then there has been wear and tear and now he’s worth less. In the case that we were interested our offer would be reasonable. We would not go overboard.”

Aston Villa have reportedly agreed to pay rivals Birmingham €2.3 million for Alex McLeish, who should be confirmed as Villa manager today.

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Villa have been involved in talks with the Scot over the past two days.

Last night, sources suggested the midlands rivals had agreed a compensation figure which was considerably lower than the €6.1 million figure which the Blues were believed to be seeking. McLeish had two years remaining on his contract.

He quit as Birmingham boss just five days ago and Villa have not been deterred from pursuing the 52-year-old by the fierce opposition of fans or a war of words with their cross-city rivals.

Birmingham accused their neighbours of tapping McLeish up once it became apparent the former Rangers and Scotland boss was a contender for the Villa Park vacancy.

City were angry having said they were standing by their League Cup-winning manager after they were relegated from the Premier League last month.

Kevin Nolan, meanwhile, has completed his surprise move to relegated West Ham.

The 28-year-old midfielder has left Newcastle for an undisclosed fee, believed to be up to €4.5 million, and agreed a five-year deal at Upton Park.

New West Ham boss Sam Allardyce will make Nolan the club’s captain in the hope he can repeat his heroics of two seasons ago, when his 17 goals helped the Magpies bounce back into the Premier League after relegation.

GuardianService