Jose Mourinho plots £50m raid for Cesc Fabregas

Target: reports in Italy have indicated that Inter are prepared to offer £30m in cash plus £20m-rated youngster Mario Balotelli in a bid to lure Cesc Fabregas to the San Siro
11 April 2012

Inter Milan are preparing a £50million bid to prise Cesc Fabregas away from Arsenal this summer.

The 22-year-old has been repeatedly linked with a move back to his former club Barcelona as the Catalan giants are set for a presidential election campaign in which Fabregas has been earmarked as the marquee signing by Joan Laporta's leading successors.

But the Italian champions will attempt to hijack any deal and former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes he can land the Gunners captain should he decide to leave Emirates Stadium this summer.

Reports in Italy have indicated that Inter are prepared to offer £30m in cash plus £20m-rated youngster Mario Balotelli in a bid to lure Fabregas to the San Siro.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has sent scouts to watch the 19-year-old striker, who has fallen out of favour with Mourinho and the player is understood to have instructed his agent to engineer a move away from Italy at the end of the season.

Wenger remains determined not to sell his prize asset and Fabregas has repeatedly insisted he will not leave north London but Arsenal's resolve is set to be tested should the Gunners endure a fifth trophyless season.

They are second in the Premier League and face Champions League holders Barcelona in the quarter-finals.

It is claimed that Inter are so confident of landing the Spain international that they have taken out an insurance policy on Fabregas, safeguarding their investment should he get injured between now and the end of the season.

But any suggestion of an agreement already being in place will be strongly refuted by Arsenal, who today followed their club policy of refusing to comment on transfer speculation.

The Gunners have repeatedly fended off interest in a player who has been linked with a move back to the club where he spent six years as a youth-team player before moving here in 2003.

Fabregas's deal runs until 2013 and he is set to be offered a new five-year contract worth £120,000-a-week in a bid to keep him at the club.

Balotelli, who has also attracted interest from Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City, did not travel to London for Inter's Champions League victory at Chelsea last week after falling out with Mourinho for a repeated lack of discipline but his raw talent has impressed Wenger and the Frenchman would be keen to sign the teenager.

Arsenal are expected to get Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh on a free transfer this summer but they could be tempted to further bolster their attacking options with Balotelli, whose current £25,000-a-week wages are well within the club's graps.

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