Cesc Fàbregas has reiterated that he is keen to stay at Arsenal at the moment but admitted that he would be keen to return to play for Barcelona during his career.

The Catalan midfielder has been strongly linked with a move away from the Emirates in the opening weeks of the new campaign in both the English and Spanish media.

While Barça are not keen to make a move without knowing that he would certainly say yes, Cesc sought to ward off any approach by the club by stating that he is still keen to play for the Gunners.

"Right now I am happy at Arsenal, but I cannot deny that returning to my country to play for Barça would be the realisation of a dream," Sport quote him as saying.

"Last summer I chose to stay in London and at the moment I am sure that it was the right decision and I hope to win trophies here."

Coming from a Barcelona-supporting family in Arenys del Mar, north of the Catalan capital, Cesc still watches the Blaugrana whenever he can and is pleased with what he is seeing this season.

"The fact is that Barça are producing some fantastic football that is always great to watch," he explained.

Sport believe that if Arsenal fall short again this season then a move by Barça could prove to be too tempting for Cesc, who has stated in the past that the north London club need to strengthen.

 

Injured striker Fernando Torres has turned down the opportunity to watch Liverpool's Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid from the luxury of a VIP seat at the Vicente Calderon...

 

A hamstring tear has denied Torres the sensational homecoming that was planned for him by UEFA's Champions League draw.

The 24-year-old, who moved from Atleti to Anfield last year, was forced from the field early in Spain's World Cup qualifier against Belgium last week, and tests confirmed that he would be out of action for up to 15 days.

Thus, Torres will not face his former team-mates in Wednesday night's blockbuster in the Spanish capital, where he plied his trade for six years after graduating from Atletico's youth system in 2001.

'El Nino' was given the chance to view the game in style, however, as los Rojiblancos offered their former idol a place in the Calderon's VIP section.

But Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez told the Daily Mail: "We talked with the doctor and physios, and with the player himself, and we decided it was important for him to stay here and continue with his recovery."

Barcelona are intensifying their interest for Coritiba striker Keirrison. Sport says the 19 year-old's agents, who own 80 per cent of his registration, also have Barca defender Henrique on their books. Henrique is currently on-loan at Bayer Leverkusen."It is true that Keirrison will not be in Brazil next season. But there is nothing concrete," conceded Coritiba president Jair Cirino.Keirrison is off contract in April and it's understood Brazilian management company intend to buy his registration in January with the view to selling him to a European club

Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar has bid a final farewell to international football with the Netherlands and he insisted that he will not be making any more comebacks.

With the Dutch short on reliable goalkeeping personnel before the World Cup qualification matches against Iceland and Norway, Oranje manager Bert van Marwijk asked van der Sar to consider filling the breach and donning the gloves for two final times before retiring.

The 38 year-old walked away from international football after the Dutch side's Euro 2008 elimination but was happy to provide a sturdy option for van Marwijk in Group Nine. After wracking up a 130th cap and a clean sheet, the Red Devils stopper is content to say goodbye.

He told the press: "I'm happy with this farewell. I knew this would be the last time, so I wanted to finish on a better note than when we lost to Russia at Euro 2008. That has been achieved."

It could have been different for the ex-Fulham man during his international send-off however; a late challenge by him sent a Norwegian attacker sprawling to the turf, and van der Sar admits he was lucky not to concede a spot-kick.

He continued: "The referee could have given Norway a penalty, I hit the Norwegian player with my knee."

Nine points from nine sees the Dutch steaming towards South Africa alreaday, but van der Sar does not anticipate dusting off the gloves for the 2010 showpiece.

Asked whether he would be tempted back for the finals, he said: "Yes - as a tourist."

Guti has been ruled out of the Madrid derby this weekend after failing to convince doctors that he had recovered from a muscle strain in time to be included in the squad.

The Spanish midfielder faced a race against time to be ready to play for el Real against their city rivals Atlético in the Vicente Calderón on Saturday evening.

Bernd Schuster was hoping that Guti would be available with earlier reports suggesting that he would step back into the team in place of Rubén De la Red.

Instead, the German coach will have to have a rethink about his line-up after being told by Madrid medics that the playmaker's muscle injury is still not completely gone.

While it is believed that he could play, doctors have advised both Guti and Schuster that he risks making the injury worse and the pair agreed it was best if he sat out the game.

Mahamadou Diarrà and Arjen Robben are both also doubtful for the match and will undergo late fitness tests to see if they can be included in the list for the trip across the Spanish capital.

There was some good news this week for Schuster though with Fernando Gago returning to full fitness and he will be part of the coach's plans for the match.

Kings Road billionaires Chelsea are keen to swoop for Inter striker Mario Balotelli, according to the Daily Mirror...

Following much hype and speculation regarding interest from Spanish giants Real Madrid, Chelsea have now jumped on the Balotelli bandwagon and they are ready to make old coach Jose Mourinho a mega offer for the Italian hit-man.

Fireworks are likely to start exploding between the English and Italian clubs, given the relationship 'Special One' and the Blues, who sacked him last year.

The Daily Mirror claims the West London club are keen on the Italian under-21 international following his outstanding performances. Balotelli fired the Azzurrini to a 3-1 win over Israel on Wednesday night and he is quickly becoming one of the hottest properties in football.

However, the striker is not finding much space at San Siro, fuelling speculation over his future as well as posing new questions on whether he would be keen on a move to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea are looking at Balotelli as an interim replacement for the injured Didier Drogba, but reports in Italy suggest the striker isn't keen on moving to the Premier League as it may ruin his chances of making a step up to Marcello Lippi's senior Azzurri squad.

A January bid for the player is expected and Inter may be tempted to part company with the rising star if they recieve a good offer from Chelsea supremo Roman Abramovic.

However, there is still the question regarding Mourinho, the coach is likely to shackle his player and scoff at his old club when he hears of their plans.

Rubén De la Red believes that he is capable of playing anywhere in Real Madrid's midfield and that he has the talent and confidence to compete with the big money signings.

Los Merengues' youth team product returned to the club in the summer after a successful year with Getafe and is pushing for a regular place in Bernd Schuster's team.

With the coach shuffling his team, De la Red could be asked to slot in to a defensive midfield position rather than play in his more comfortable role further forward in the derby against Atlético this weekend.

"I only care about playing, I don't care how. I want to help the team and I will try to do my best in that position if that's where the coach wants me to play. I've played as a defensive midfielder before and managed to help the team," he explained.

"I think we all have much responsibility on this team. There is a quality squad here despite the injuries."

Rafael Van der Vart, Guti, Fernando Gago and Wesley Sneijder are all jostling for De la Red's usual position, but he believes that he is as good as any of them.

"I work as hard as the rest and the coach decides who plays. I think I'm as good as anyone else. We all work hard to earn a spot on the team. The player who's fittest makes the cut in the end," he continued.

Looking ahead to the game in the Vicente Caldéron at the weekend, De la Red thinks that the visitors will not have an easy time against their city rivals.

"Atlético de Madrid are a very good team. They are strong contenders for titles despite losing three games. No team is favourite at this stage because there are many matches left to be held," he said.

"We will see who has chances of winning the league halfway through the second part of the campaign."

The Spanish giants are keeping tabs on Hernanes and Dentinho, two promising youngsters who are set to become hot property.

No other clubs in the world quite have the penchant for picking up South American talent quite like Real Madrid and Barcelona. Now it seems that these two young Brazilian protégés are coveted by both, and it could lead to fireworks.

Hernanes is a Sao Paulo midfielder who was on the verge of joining Pep Guardiola's Camp Nou revolution in the summer, and only the high demands of his club ended Barcelona’s interest. However, he is still on the radar of the Catalan giants, and there are murmurs that a deal may soon be resurrected.

Madrid and Calderon are lurking however, should any proposed move break down. But they are favourites to land Dentinho, who is the bright young hope of Corinthians. The striker is just 19 years old, and although he is on the radar of clubs in England and Italy, it is Real who have made the first moves to secure his signature. They have suggested an asking price, and even arranged representatives to meet with Corinthians in the hope of reaching an agreement. Watch the space for further updates.