Although Fabregas, who has five years still to run on his contract, told Gunners boss Arsene Wenger before the World Cup he wanted to return to the Nou Camp, Arsenal remain determined to retain the services of their talisman and have already knocked back one £30million offer.

It is an issue which plagued Wenger during his time in South Africa, where he was a pundit for French television.

Rosell and a string of players, many of whom are international team-mates of the World Cup winner, had all voiced their desire for Fabregas - embarrassingly forced into a Barcelona shirt during Spain's victory celebrations in Madrid - to complete a move 'home' to the club he left as a 16-year-old.

Arsenal, though, have always maintained they have no intentions of selling their star man, determined to retain the 23-year-old's services for at least one more season.

The Gunners captain, meanwhile, has yet to make any direct statement on his intentions as he takes some extra time off following Spain's World Cup triumph.

However, while Barcelona maintain there is still money to spend despite the big-money purchase of David Villa and the club having been forced to take out a 155m Euro (£129m) loan to ease their financial problems, Rosell now admits the Catalans are not prepared to break the bank to land Fabregas.

"Arsenal feels very hurt by Barca," said Rosell to Catalan TV3.

"They don't want to listen to offers or sell and they are not putting the player (Fabregas) on the market.

"There was a strong dispute a few months ago and they have not forgotten it."

Rosell continued: "He (Fabregas) will arrive, even if it is not now, it will be next year. We will see.

"One thing that is certain is that we will not go mad trying to sign him.

"No shareholder would pay 60 or 70million Euros for him.

"We will not go all out for him.

"We would only pay his value in the transfer market."

It is the first time, publicly anyway, Barcelona appear to have softened their stance in the seemingly unending pursuit of their former trainee.

Fabregas will play no part in Arsenal's opening pre-season friendly at Barnet tomorrow, nor are any of the other players who were involved at the World Cup.

Holland striker Robin van Persie has also been granted extra recovery time and so, like Fabregas, does not have return until the Emirates Cup on July 31/August 1.

Wenger will, though, want the future of his side settled by the final pre-season game at Legia Warsaw.

Those discussions are now likely to centre on whether Fabregas is prepared to give it his all for the Gunners cause next season, or if, however reluctantly, Wenger must let a player, whose heart is not at the club anymore, leave.

Tomorrow's game will at least give the Arsenal manager the chance to focus on football issues once again.

New signings Marouane Chamakh and Laurent Koscielny are likely to feature, along with Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri, Thomas Vermaelen and Andrey Arshavin.

Midfielder Jack Wilshere is back after a loan spell at Bolton and appears set to be integrated into the first-team squad again this season, while fit-again defenders Johan Djourou and Kieran Gibbs should also be involved at Underhill, along with a scattering of Arsenal's promising youngsters.

Manuel Almunia is currently the Gunners number one, although Wenger has been linked with a move for Fulham's Mark Schwarzer, but could instead turn to Udinese's Slovenian international Samir Handanovic or Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastien Frey should the Australian veteran's £4m price tag prove excessive.

The Gunners are expected to add further defensive cover, with Udinese centre-half Cristian Zapata a reported target.

Ipswich England Under-19 striker Connor Wickham is also said to have alerted Wenger's interest along with north-London rivals Tottenham, who remain favourites to land free agent Joe Cole.