Barcelona look to have, for now at least, admitted defeat in the bid to bring their former trainee back to the Nou Camp.

Andres Iniesta is the latest player to follow president Sandro Rosell and concede the Catalan club are unlikely to be able to secure a deal in time for the start of the new campaign.

Fabregas is currently away on extended leave after playing for Spain in the World Cup final, and along with Holland striker Robin van Persie is not scheduled to rejoin the Arsenal squad until the Emirates Cup next weekend.

However, manager Arsene Wenger is expected to gauge the feeling of his talisman midfielder before then, having been told ahead of the World Cup that Fabregas wanted to move back to Spain.

Arsenal have already rejected one offer of £30million earlier this summer and fully intend to keep hold of Fabregas, who has five years of his current lucrative contract still to run.

Key for Wenger, though, will be whether he is convinced Fabregas remains committed to the cause, at least for the entire coming season, or, however reluctantly, look to broker a deal to allow a player whose heart is just not in it any more to move on.

Arsenal have enjoyed a decent pre-season build-up, and will play the second match of their Austrian training camp against local side SC Neusiedl 1919 on Tuesday.

Koscielny, 24, arrived in what is understood to be a £10m switch from French club Lorient, and has already impressed during his two pre-season run-outs, against Barnet and then Sturm Graz.

The 24-year-old centre-half accepts it will be a significant step up to the hustle and bustle of English top-flight football, but is relishing the battles which lie ahead.

"I like physical challenges and I am a player that can anticipate situations," Koscielny told www.arsenal.com.

"I feel that I read the game well and one of my strengths is challenging for the ball in the air.

"However, being at Arsenal, I know that I will have to work harder on all of those points to reach a higher level."

When Arsenal return to England, they will prepare for next weekend's Emirates Cup, when the Gunners face both AC Milan and Celtic.

By then, Wenger will want his squad more or less complete, with only the trip to Legia Warsaw ahead of the opening match of the new domestic season at Liverpool.

Arsenal are expected to bring in at least another defensive player.

Veteran centre-back Sol Campbell could be ready to take up the offer of a one-year extension, while the Gunners are said to be weighing up a £15m bid for Everton defender Phil Jagielka, with Udinese centre-half Cristian Zapata another on Wenger's radar.

The Arsenal manager has also made it clear he has yet to settle on his number one ahead of the new campaign.

Holland international Maarten Stekeleburg, of Ajax, has emerged as a potential target, with Australian stopper Mark Schwarzer seeming to have been priced out of any potential deal by Fulham, who want around £4m for the 37-year-old.

Russian Igor Akinfeev, meanwhile, claims he has spoken with international team-mate Andrey Arshavin about the possibility of moving to England, and would relish joining him at Emirates Stadium.