Cesc Fabregas Completes Move From Arsenal To Barcelona

Cesc Fabregas has put the finishing touches on his move to Barcelona from Arsenal after signing a five-year contract with the European champions.

Following confirmation on Sunday night that Barça and Arsenal had reached an initial agreement for the £35m transfer of the Spain international, Fabregas undertook a two-stage medical before on Monday morning before the Catalan club confirmed that he had put pen to paper.

The announcement brings to an end the long-running transfer saga and sees Fabregas return to his local club Barça, who he left for Arsenal as a 16-year-old.

The 24-year-old, who has had a €200 million (over £175m) buy-out clause inserted in his contract, was presented to the Barça fans this afternoon at the Nou Camp before speaking to the media.

"For me it's a special day. I'm returning home," Fabregas said. "I know that the Arsenal fans will be disappointed with my exit from the club, but I'm here to face an incredible challenge, the challenge of my life."

Despite his happiness at returning to the club that nurtured him during his early years, Fabregas also praised former manager Arsène Wenger.

"I'll never have enough words to thank him for all he's done for me," he said. "I'll never forget him.

"I don't think he has such a good image here [in Spain], he has been portrayed as something he's not, in my opinion. If today I am here with you then it's greatly due to him.

"I can't express my admiration for him strongly enough, I owe it to him that I am here."

"[Our] relationship is fantastic. On Friday I said goodbye to him and I got very emotional because he's like a father figure to me.

"I couldn't even talk at one stage, when I wanted to say how grateful I was. I got a bit emotional and couldn't talk much.

"I had to send him a message afterwards, saying 'I'll never forget what you've done for me'. If it hadn't been for him I wouldn't be here today, living my dream."

Fabregas said that if Arsenal wanted to maintain their reputation they should stick with Wenger, and admitted that it had been difficult to leave the club without being able to explain himself to its supporters.

"I think if Arsenal wants to keep being the club they are then they have to always be under his control, because he's the best, everyone respects him, and for me, he will always be the best person that I've met in football."

"I'm sorry I couldn't say anything in the last two and a half months, Arsenal wouldn't allow me to talk to anyone, even if I wanted to I couldn't.

"I have time to talk about it and I'm sure I'll do an interview especially for them."

"I'm disappointed and upset about it because I have had a great relationship with the fans over the years. It took time to build this and I'm disappointed I could lose some of them.

"All I have are words of gratitude. I'll never forget what they have done for me, I gave absolutely everything to the club and I think they know that but it was the right time to come back here.

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything to them in the last few months but I couldn't. I was very, very sad to leave, I spent one third of my life there, eight years, so I'm very sad but life goes on."

The end of the longest-running transfer saga in football came to an end at just after midday on Monday when Barcelona posted a comment on their official Twitter feed which read: "Cesc has signed his contract which ties him to Barcelona until 2016. The buy-out clause is 200 million euros."

According to the Barcelona website, Fabregas' medicals proved he was in perfect condition.

Barcelona's first-team doctor Ricard Pruna said: "All the tests taken have been satisfactory."

Pruna added that Fabregas "can be integrated into training without any problem."

While Arsenal were always determined to keep Fabregas, it became clear this summer that the Spaniard - who made more than 300 appearances for the London club, scoring 57 goals - was no longer committed to their cause.

Barcelona saw a £27million offer rebuffed earlier in the summer, as Arsenal remained steadfast in their demands over a £40million fee.

However, with Barcelona not willing to significantly increase their cash bid, and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitting the player was unsettled, the Frenchman has reluctantly allowed a deal to go through.

Wenger expressed disappointment at Fabregas' departure: "Yes we lost a world class player and we are sad about it. We did try to keep him but in the end we have to respect the desire of the player as well," he said.

"It is very difficult to get the best out of a player, he has to be completely committed to where he is. If you understand one thing, it is that Cesc didn't go for financial reasons. He wanted to go back to his home city.

"He didn't go because he didn't love the club. He wanted to go to the town where he was educated. It is very difficult to resist that.

"Everybody has his opinion, but you have to make decisions. It was my decision and of course I submitted that to the board and the chairman."

German Bundesliga Review

Robin Dutt celebrated his first victory in charge of Bayer Leverkusen as a Michal Kadlec goal was enough to see off Werder Bremen at the BayArena.

Kadlec scored the decisive goal in the 85th minute to help Leverkusen pick up their first win of the campaign and lift them up to mid-table.

Bundesliga new-boys Augsburg maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 1-1 draw at Kaiserslautern on Sunday.

Sascha Molders scored his third goal in two games to put Augsburg in front in the ninth minute, but Etey Shechter levelled for the hosts 10 minutes from time.

On Saturday, a last-gasp goal from Luiz Gustavo was enough to give Bayern Munich their first win of the Bundesliga season at the expense of Wolfsburg.

The Brazilian midfielder struck practically with the last kick of the game to silence the VW-Arena after a legitimate goal from Patrick Helmes had been disallowed in the first half.

The rather fortunate win lifts Bayern up to mid-table and gives them confidence ahead of their Champions League bow against FC Zurich in midweek.

Borussia Dortmund was brought back down to earth with a bump with a 1-0 defeat at Hoffenheim.

Having opened their Bundesliga campaign with a convincing victory over Hamburg last weekend, the defending champions were unable to build on that at the Rhein-Neckar-Arena, succumbing to Sejad Salihovic's early goal.

Four goals in 17 minutes and a hat-trick from Dutch striker Klass-Jan Huntelaar secured an emphatic win for Schalke over Cologne at the Veltins Arena.

Last season's Champions League semi-finalists fell behind to a Lukas Podolski strike but recovered well to claim all three points as goals from Lewis Holtby and Raul, as well as Huntelaar's hat-trick, gave them their first Bundesliga win of the season.

Borussia Monchengladbach and Stuttgart defended their unbeaten starts to the season with a 1-1 draw at the Borussia Park Stadion.

The goals arrived in quick succession after a keenly fought first half had ended all square.

Gladbach were first to strike with a penalty in the 67th minute, converted by Filip Daems, and Stuttgart replied in the 71st minute through Cacau.

The home side ended the game with 10 men due to Roel Brouwers' red card in the 80th minute, but they weathered a late Stuttgart storm to hold on for a point.

Mainz's hopes of repeating their stunning start to last season remain intact after they made it two wins from two in the current campaign with a 2-1 victory over Freiburg.

All the goals came in the second half with Marcel Risse and Eric Choupo-Moting putting Mainz 2-0 up before Freiburg netted a stoppage-time consolation through Papiss Demba Cisse.

Hertha Berlin equalized two minutes before the end of each half to deny Hamburg a win and claim their first point in a 2-2 draw since their return to the Bundesliga.

Mladen Petric opened the scoring from the spot for the hosts after 25 minutes, but Tunay Torun levelled just before the break.

Son Heung-min restored the home side's advantage just before the hour mark but Andre Mijatovic struck from a corner to salvage a point for the capital club, who also hit the woodwork twice.

Hannover warmed up for their much-anticipated Europa League tie against Sevilla next week with a 2-1 Bundesliga victory over Nurnberg.

Mirko Slomka's side forged ahead after a quarter of an hour through Mohammed Abdellaoue and they doubled their advantage when Konstantin Rausch scored from the penalty spot following a foul on Abdellaoue by Nurnberg goalkeeper Raphael Schafer.

The home side pulled one back through Tomas Pekhart after 55 minutes but Hannover held on to make it two wins from two this season to build on their impressive fourth-placed finish last term.

Dutch League Review

Ajax overwhelmed Heerenveen in the second half at the Amsterdam ArenA to sit atop the embryonic Eredivisie table after a 5-1 victory.

The hosts led 2-1 at half-time thanks to Toby Alderweireld's wonder strike after Bas Dost had cancelled out Kolbeinn Sigthorsson's opener.

It was a different story after the break, though, as Derk Boerrigter, Miralem Sulejmani and Gregory van der Wiel all netted to give the capital giants a comfortable win.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Heracles Almelo fought back from a half-time deficit to defeat NAC Breda and record their first victory of the new Eredivisie season.

Visitors NAC took a 32nd-minute lead through Matthew Amoah but Heracles drew level thanks to a Willy Overtoom penalty midway through the second half and then snatched the winner through Everton 14 minutes from time.

Tim Matavz struck a first-half hat-trick as FC Groningen bounced back from their opening-weekend defeat with a home triumph over ADO Den Haag on Sunday.

Slovenia international Matavz netted in the 17th, 21st and 38th minutes and when Leandro Bacuna made it 4-0 immediately after half-time Groningen were on course for a comprehensive victory.

However, ADO hit back with quickfire goals from Lex Immers and Mike van Duinen to at least save some face.

Two goals by Jacob Mulenga in the last 12 minutes of the game saw FC Utrecht come back to claim a 2-2 draw against De Graafschap.

Goals by Rydell Poepon and Soufian El Hassnaoui had given the visitors a two-goal lead as they searched for their first point of the season after their 4-1 mauling by Ajax in the opening game.

However, Mulenga struck with 12 minutes to go and equalized five minutes later to give the hosts their second consecutive draw.

On Saturday, Feyenoord and FC Twente made it two wins out of two at the start of the Eredivisie season with impressive victories.

Jerson Cabral scored two and created the third as Ronald Koeman's Feyenoord swept aside Roda JC 3-0 at De Kuip.

The 20-year-old winger scored two brilliant individual goals either side of a Leroy Fer effort.

Twente were 2-0 winners over an AZ Alkmaar side who had beaten PSV Eindhoven in their first game.

Marc Janko headed home the first goal in the third minute and a fine solo strike from substitute Bryan Ruiz midway through the second half made the result safe.

PSV bounced back from their opening-day defeat with a 1-0 success at home to RKC Waalwijk thanks to a 24th-minute goal from Dries Mertens.

Vitesse Arnhem secured their first win of the campaign with a thumping 4-0 win over VVV-Venlo at the GelreDome.

John van den Brom's side dominated proceedings and scored twice in each half, the goals coming from Marco van Ginkel, a Marcel Meeuwis own goal, Wilfried Bony and Giorgi Chanturia.

French League Review

Lille's stuttering start to the new campaign continued as last season's champions lost 1-0 at home to Montpellier.

Rudi Garcia's side was held to a 1-1 draw against Nancy on the opening weekend and a second-half strike from Olivier Giroud was enough for Montpellier to inflict a defeat on the double winners.

In contrast, the victory for Montpellier means they have won their opening two games of the new season following last weekend's impressive 3-1 victory against Auxerre.

Auxerre recovered from a 2-0 half-time deficit to salvage a point from their home clash with Marseille on Sunday.

Marseille looked on course for the win as goals at either end of the first half from Loic Remy and Andre Ayew put them in charge at the break.

However, Auxerre netted almost immediately after the restart through Alain Traore to get back into the contest and Roy Contout's equalizer eight minutes from full-time saw the hosts claim a draw.

Elsewhere on Sunday, a second-half goal by Saber Khelifa guided Evian to their first ever win in Ligue 1 as they edged out Nice.

Bernard Casoni's side was promoted for the second successive season at the end of the last campaign when they were Ligue 2 champions.

Evian had drawn their first match in the top flight last week against Brest but Khelifa's effort ensured they took all three points.

On Saturday, Toulouse, Caen and St Etienne all made it two wins from two in Ligue 1 - but big-spending Paris St Germain were still looking for their first victory after being held to a 1-1 draw at Rennes.

Toulouse scored twice in the final 20 minutes, through Umut Bulut and a Paulo Machado penalty, to see off top-flight new boys Dijon 2-0.

Two former Sochaux players returned to haunt the Montbeliard side as Caen sealed a 2-1 victory at Stade Auguste Bonal.

Romain Hamouma, who spent five years with Sochaux as a youth-team player, gave the visitors a first-half lead, before Pierre Alain-Frau - who made more than 200 appearances for Les Lionceaux - doubled the advantage.

Ryad Boudebouz pulled a goal back three minutes into stoppage time, but the hosts were unable to find an equalizer.

Sylvain Marchal fired home from close range three minutes from time to give St Etienne a richly-deserved 1-0 victory over Nancy at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

The leading trio found themselves five points clear of PSG, whose stuttering start to the league campaign - following their summer takeover by Qatar Sports Investments - continued.

The capital club went down 1-0 at Lorient in their Ligue 1 opener last Saturday and fared only slightly better tonight as Jonathan Pitroipa's 88th-minute leveller for Rennes cancelled out Kevin Gameiro's 73rd-minute strike.

Elsewhere, Lisandro Lopez struck a late equaliser for Lyon to deny newly-promoted Ajaccio an unlikely victory at the Stade Gerland.

Lisandro netted seven minutes from time to earn Les Gones a 1-1 result after a 59th-minute goal from Frederic Sammaritano had put the visitors ahead against the run of play.

A stoppage-time goal from Henrique also salvaged a 1-1 draw for 10-man Bordeaux at the Stade du Moustoir after Yann Jouffre's 82nd-minute strike appeared to have earned Lorient their second win in as many games.

Les Girondins were a man down for the final 11 minutes following the dismissal of Gregory Sertic for a second bookable offence.

In the late kick-off, Valenciennes and Brest battled out a 0-0 draw in the first Ligue 1 match at VA's new Stade du Hainaut home.

Both teams created plenty of chances but there was no breakthrough, with VA goalkeeper Nicolas Penneteau and Brest counterpart Steve Elana solid throughout.

Chelsea Offer Tottenham Three Players To Seal £35m Modric Transfer

Chelsea will give Tottenham their pick of three of their players in a bid to secure the signing of Luka Modric.

The Blues are desperate to bring the Croatia international to Stamford Bridge but have been surprised by their rival's stubbornness in negotiations. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is notorious for driving a hard bargain but he has outdone himself on this occasion by refusing to be moved by either Chelsea's approach on the player's wishes.

Bids of £22m and £27m have been lodged and rejected and the West London club is now prepared to up the ante, driven by a need to add some much-needed creativity to their squad. To tempt Tottenham they are prepared to let them have one or all of Yossi Benayoun, Gael Kakuta and Salomon Kalou - plus cash - in a last-ditch bid to snare Modric despite chairman Bruce Buck attempting to play down the pursuit of any potential transfer targets

Manager Harry Redknapp is known to be an admirer of Didier Drogba though Chelsea will not sanction the departure of the giant Ivorian despite his advancing years and fierce competition for the central striker role. Whether Spurs will have their head turned remains to be seen as they weigh up the need to raise funds to invest in a new front line against the prestige of keeping Modric at the club.

Tottenham Prepare £35m Offer For La Liga Hotshot

Tottenham and Napoli will go head to head for £35m signature of Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi.

The Italy international has been tracked by Tottenham Hotspur and Juventus this summer but Villarreal have so far refused to sell their marquee name.

Napolis president has gone on record to state his admiration for the former Manchester United youngster, and could rival any bid that arises from White Hart Lane.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp, who failed in an attempt to sign Rossi in January, has been keeping close tabs on the 24-year-olds situation and watched as the strikers proposed move to Juventus collapsed.

Redknapp is determined not to miss out on the forward this time round as he looks to freshen up his strike force after seeing Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko manage just 17 Premier League goals between them last season.

Rossi recently spoke of his respect for Napoli but would jump at the opportunity to return to the Premier League, according to sources close to the player.

Spurs will offload Peter Crouch and Wilson Palacios to Stoke for £20m to partly finance the deal.

According to the Daily Mail, Redknapp is prepared to offload wantaway midfielder Luka Modric to fund the signing of up to three strikers, but chairman Daniel Levy is keen to keep the Croat.

The North London club has been linked with several big-name forwards this summer including Athletic Bilbao's Fernando Llorente, Atletico Madrid's Diego Forlan and Portos Radamel Falcao.

Arsenal Consider Shock Swoop For Liverpool Midfielder

Joe Cole has emerged as a shock transfer target for Arsenal as the Londoners prepare for life without Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.

The Liverpool midfielder has struggled to hold down a regular place in Kenny Dalglish's side after enduring a difficult debut season characterized by injuries and a loss of form.

Cole's situation on Merseyside has been compounded further by the summer arrivals of midfield signings Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is now willing to offer Cole an escape route from his Anfield nightmare as the French tactician seeks replacements for Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, who are bound for Barcelona and Manchester City respectively.

Wenger still sees potential in Cole and he believes the former West Ham man can still do a job in central midfield or on the left-wing.

The Merseyside club is looking to get Cole's £90,000 weekly wages off their books, but Wenger will ask the player to take a considerable pay-cut if he is to secure a switch back to London.

The 29-year-old's switch from Chelsea to Liverpool wad widely regarded as one of the major transfers coups of last summer, with former Kop boss Roy Hodgson snapping up the playmaker on a free.

Premier League new boys QPR have also been linked with a move but Cole is convinced he can still play at the very top level.

Liverpool Set To Offer Stoke £10m Plus Player For English Defender

Liverpool will make a last ditch offer of £10million plus midfielder Christian Poulsen to Stoke City for captain Ryan Shawcross.

The Reds are in need of central defensive cover because of doubts over Jamie Carragher and Sotirios Kyrgiakos’ long-term futures and Daniel Agger’s fitness.

Anfield boss Kenny Dalglish has already had a £10million offer rejected by the Potters who want closer to £18million for the club skipper.

The 23-year-old has impressed with his no-nonsense approach to defending and fits into Dalglish’s policy of buying young British talent.

But the Liverpool manager’s hands are tied as he cannot improve on his original bid until he manages to sell the dead wood at the club.

Poulsen is one of the unwanted figures, as is Alberto Aquilani, David Ngog and Joe Cole.

The Denmark international has rejected several offers from his homeland but has demanded he either play in the Reds’ first-team or he be sold by the August 31 deadline.

Dalglish will put his offer forward as he is aware the transfer window will soon close and he needs a centre-back in the club now rather than in January.

Newcastle Plot Move For Lyon Full-Back

Newcastle is set to continue their French revolution with a move for Lyon defender Aly Cissokho, according to reports in Paris.

Alan Pardew is in the hunt for a new left-back following Jose Enrique's departure to Liverpool earlier this month and has identified Cissokho as his first-choice replacement.

The 23-year-old has been linked with a move away from Lyon all summer and was wanted by Liverpool before they completed the signing of Enrique.

But now it has been reported that Newcastle are lining up an £8m offer for Cissokho, who has made no secret of his desire to try his hand in English football.

The left-back would become Pardew's fifth French signing of the summer following the arrivals of Sylvain Marveaux, Yohan Cabaye, Mehdi Abeid and Gabriel Obertan.

Sevilla’s Rodri Set To Undergo Medical Ahead Of Barcelona Move

Sevilla have confirmed that Rodri is set to undergo a medical with Barcelona before joining the Camp Nou outfit.

The 21-year-old developed through the youth ranks in Seville before earning his debut for the senior team last term, making five appearances in La Liga.

However, his spell at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan appears over as he gets set to join the European champions, possibly as a replacement for Bojan Krkic who moved to Italian side Roma.

A statement on Sevilla's official website reads:

"Sevilla FC forward Rodri will be in Barcelona later [Monday evening] to have his medical. Barcelona is interested in the player to join their B team.

"As the first stage of the process in terms of leading to an agreement between the clubs, Rodri will have a medical, as is always the case in these types of moves."

Rodri scored 19 goals playing for the Sevilla B side last season before being promoted to the first-team.

Zuculini Set For Zaragoza Loan

Hoffenheim misfit Franco Zuculini is to make a season-long loan move to Real Zaragoza, according to the German club's general manager.

The Argentine had only just returned to Rhein-Neckar-Arena after six months on loan Racing Club in his homeland.

But Hoffenheim general manager Ernst Tanner has announced the 20-year-old midfielder will again be sent elsewhere in order to play more football.

Tanner told Deutsche Presseagentur: "Hoffenheim and Real Zaragoza have agreed on terms. Franco will be playing for Zaragoza until the end of the season.

"He will have better chance to play regularly at that club. And regular match action is definitely helping him to develop as a player."

Zuculini joined Hoffenheim from Racing Club two years ago for a transfer fee of £3.9m. He has a contract at Hoffenheim until June 2014.