FCBARCELONA.CAT

21.05.2010 15:03

Begiristain reveals Arsenal contact

Edgar Fornós

FCB have made contact with Arsenal about Fàbregas the Catalan club's technical secretary Txiki Begiristain has confirmed. "The player has shown a desire to play for Barça, but we will not be entering into any talks until Arsenal are happy”

The Blaugrana director revealed that the Gunners knew of the interest as he spoke to the media at the official presentation of David Villa on Friday. "Cesc has a contract with his club and we have to be respectful," he added.

Working hard

Barça's current board are continuing to work hard on strengthening the squad after retaining the league title at the weekend. "We are carrying on working, but the players and other clubs dictate the pace of things," Begiristain explained. "In the end the most important thing is when the season starts and we have the most complete squad in the Spanish league. We want to improve things and we will remain calm when buying and selling."

No sales

Speculation maybe rife about who will come and go at Camp Nou this summer, but Begiristain stated that no player will be sold unless they want to leave. Reflecting on the position of both Thierry Henry and Rafael Márquez he said: "Last season Henry was sensational and this season Pedro has stood out. Whether he stays or not is in his hands. We are very grateful to Márquez as he has helped us to win many trophies. We are willing though to talk to any player that does not feel comfortable and will see what the best thing is for them. In principle we do not want to sell anyone and we are only thinking about signing players who will help us to improve."

Ibrahimovic and Villa

Begiristain has no doubt that Villa and Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be able to play together. "I am sure Zlatan will adapt perfectly to Villa," he explained. "Zlatan will be pleased because competition is always good and the same with Villa and they both want to win things. The season is long and demanding. We want the coach to be able to have several good forwards with different profiles."