Gunners in a strong position to command a big fee for their skipper

Arsenal have forced Barcelona into a corner by forcing them chose between signing Cesc Fabregas or Udinese winger Alexei Sanchez.

The Catalan club are heavily in debt to the tune of around �369.5million and last year lost �64.36m alone, although Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola does have around 50m Euros to spend, meaning he must chose one or the other.

It was reported this morning that Barcelona have offered around 30m Euros for Fabregas, an offer which has been rejected by the club.

If the Spanish side are going to finally capture Fabregas, Arsenal is adamant they want all of Guardiola’s budget for his services.

For a number of years it has seemed like it is a matter of when and not if, although it does seem that Arsenal are slowly warming to the idea of letting their captain go. Last season they would not even entertaining selling their main man.

“Arsenal don’t want to sit down and negotiate with us. It’s not a problem with the wishes of Cesc or of Barca - they simply don’t want to negotiate,” Barca spokesman Toni Freixa said at the end of last season.

If Barcelona wish to buy Sanchez, they may have to spend something similar according Udinese owner Giampaolo Pozzo.

“Is �44m too much? No, it does not seem enough,” he said in the Sun.

“I have no doubt that if he stayed with us for another year he would be worth even more than that. He’s the best player of his generation.

“He is like Cristiano Ronaldo when he was 22. We know when we have a diamond - Alexis Sanchez is one.”

According to Marca, the Spanish sports paper based in Madrid, they have a contingency plan if they fail to net Sanchez with Juan Mata of Valencia and Giuseppe Rossi apparently targets.