Laporta - Gunners will give in

Barcelona president Joan Laporta is confident Arsenal will eventually accept defeat in their battle to hold onto Cesc Fabregas.

The Gunners have already turned down a Barca bid for their star midfielder - thought to be in the region of Ј29 million.

The Spanish champions are preparing to go back to Arsenal with an improved offer for the 23-year-old, who started out in the Barca youth ranks before being lured to North London in 2003.

And although the Premier League side are determined not to lose their captain, Laporta believes they can only resist Barca's overtures for so long.

"Arsenal will end up giving in, but I don't know when that will be," he told reporters on a visit to Sant Guim de Freixenet.

"We will have to wait and let the professionals who are taking care of it do their work."

Pledge

Laporta is set to leave his post at the end of the month to be replaced by Sandro Rosell and, although the outgoing president is unsure whether a deal can be struck before he steps down, his successor pledged to land Fabregas during his successful election campaign.

"If it's not us, it will be up to the new board if they consider it appropriate to carry on along this road," Laporta told the club's official website .

Barca have already signed Spain striker David Villa from Valencia this summer and have been linked with a move for his international team-mate Fernando Torres.

That means Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thierry Henry could both be heading out of the Camp Nou this summer.

"The market is very changeable and is moving at the moment, so we have to be careful in that sense," Laporta added.

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