Guardiola realistic about Fabregas

SECURING a deal with Arsenal for the transfer of Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas will not be easy, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said yesterday.

World Cup winner Fabregas was a youth player at Barca before moving to the English Premier League club in September 2003 and the player has made it clear he wants to return to the Catalan capital.

Local media reported yesterday that Barca’s new president, Sandro Rosell, would travel to London this week to try to strike a deal but Guardiola was downbeat about the chances of success.

“I think that getting Cesc will cost a lot,” Guardiola said yesterday. “He is an important player for Arsenal.

“We want him to come but if Arsenal don’t want to negotiate he won’t.”

Barca, who have already added Spain striker David Villa and versatile Brazilian midfielder Adriano Correia to their squad, have about €40 million more to spend on players, club officials have indicated.

As well as Fabregas, who is more of a playmaker, they would probably need to buy a holding central midfielder to replace the Manchester City-bound Yaya Toure.

Meanwhile, Liam Lawrence has revealed he could still leave Stoke City before the start of the season.

Reports suggested Lawrence was set for a move to Mick McCarthy’s Wolves earlier this summer and last week Stoke manager Tony Pulis denied he was lining the midfielder up for an exchange deal involving Middlesbrough’s Gary O’Neil.

Celtic have also been heavily linked with Lawrence and the 28-year-old Republic of Ireland international has indicated a deal could yet be on the cards.

“My agent has had another couple of calls and so it is still going on,” Lawrence said. “Something could be happening in the next couple of weeks.”

Sunderland midfielder Andy Reid is due to see a specialist after his hopes of returning from injury were dealt a setback.

The 27-year-old Dubliner did not join his team-mates as they flew out for the club’s pre-season training camp on the Algarve yesterday after picking up an Achilles problem.