World Cup winner Fabregas was a youth player at Barca before moving to the English Premier League club in September 2003 and the player has made it clear he wants to return to the Catalan capital.
Local media reported on Monday that Barca’s new president, Sandro Rosell, would travel to London this week to try to strike a deal but Guardiola was downbeat about the chances of success.
“I think that getting Cesc will cost a lot,” Guardiola told a news conference at the club’s training ground on the outskirts of the city.
“He is an important player for Arsenal,” he added. “We want him to come but if Arsenal don’t want to negotiate he won’t.”
Barca, who have already added Spain striker David Villa and versatile Brazilian midfielder Adriano Correia to their squad, have about 40 million euros ($52 million) more to spend on players, club officials have indicated.
As well as Fabregas, who is more of a playmaker, they would probably need to buy a holding central midfielder to replace the Manchester City-bound Yaya Toure.
Asked about the possibility of Zlatan Ibrahimovic leaving, Guardiola said he wanted the Swedish striker to stay but it was up to the player to decide.
Mexico captain Rafael Marquez was in the same situation, the coach added.
Ten of Barca’s first-team squad began pre-season training on Monday, with internationals including Andres Iniesta, Villa, Xavi, Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique still on holiday.

Source: Reuters

It wasn’t a high skilled, free flowing match. The referee had to stop the game on more than a few occasions and had to dish out cards, including a red card to Johnny Heitinga after picking up a second yellow card.

Iniesta scores the winning goal

Spain started off well and dominated the possession, but the Dutch managed to hold on.

Robben missed a chance from a Wesley Sneijder pass, Casillas savied with his foot.

The substitutes Jesus Navas for Pedro and Fabregas on for Xabi Alonso seemed to have a positive impact on the game.

With a shootout looking ominous, Iniesta controlled a ball from Cesc Fabregas four minutes from extra time and found the back of the net. The Dutch were angry that an offside hadn’t been call and also questioned why a deflected free kick moments earlier had not resulted in a corner in their favour.

“Euphoria, joy, everything positive. The only thing that counts in finals is to win them.”

Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso told reporters.

Spain celebrate their first World Cup victory

This match brought an end to the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa.

The Closing Ceremony.

Arsenal could have finished with a higher goal tally, they played some memorizing football led by Captain Fabregas. The Gunners’ skipper was  involved in all goals, before being substituted and had another marvelous game.

Arsenal were put in front by Arshavin after being behind Blackburn twice during the half-time, the score reading Arsenal 3 – 2 Blackburn.

These were the only goals to be scored by Blackburn for the day, after the break it was an Arsenal onslaught! Although Blackburn had decent chances to bring the deficit down.

Barcelona’s Thierry Henry watched from the stands.

David Dunn was brought down in the penalty area by Vermalen but no penalty was awarded to Blackburn.

Cesc Fabregas added another goal(57′), after leaving keeper Robinson wrong footed. It was the third time in a row Arsenal have scored 4 against Blackburn.

Benny McCarthy came on for David Dunn but suffered a niggle and was off after around 15 minutes on the pitch. In came Hoilett and almost scored for Blackburn if it weren’t for the post.

The Gunners played good attacking football, as the scoreline suggests and were a joy to watch.

Theo Walcott looked in touch, coming back after an injury.

Bendtner added the sixth goal from a Ramsey pass.

Tugay could only watch his former team fall further behind, from the stands.

In the post-match interview when asked about kissing the Arsenal emblem after scoring Cesc Fabregas said:

“There has been some speculation, I’m committed 100% to the club, in my 7th season. I was trying to show I really love this club.”

Chelsea 2 – 0 Liverpool

Anelka, Drogba, Ballack all have opportunities on goal, but were unable to convert during the first half. The deadlock couldn’t be broken by either side at half time.

Nicholas Anelka tapped-in the ball at the hour mark, after Liverpool gave the ball away and the Blues broke away with Drogba.

Liverpool had chances especially in the dying minutes of the game, with both Benayoun and Gerrard missing good opportunities. Chelsea held on and managed to score another through Malouda, once again from a Drogba assist.

The Reds have lost their second match in a row, earlier losing to Fiorentina in the Champions League.

The victory has put Chelsea ahead of Manchester United by 2 points, on top of the table.

Results of the matches that flagged off the season:

Chelsea 2-1 Hull City held at Stamford Bridge
Aston Villa 0-2 Wigan Athletic held at Villa Park
Blackburn Rovers 0-2 Manchester City held at Ewood Park
Bolton Wanderers 0-1 Sunderland held at Reebok Stadium
Portsmouth 0-1 Fulham held at Fratton Park
Stoke City 2-0 Burnley held at Britannia Stadium
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0-2 West Ham United held at Molineux
Everton 1-6 Arsenal held at Goodison Park

A stunning performance by Arsenal secured them a massive 6-1 win over Everton at Goodison Park, a complete contrast to Chelsea’s incredibly lucky 90^th minute victory over Hull City, thanks to Didier Drogba. Another team to watch this season would be Manchester City –with its extravagant transfer spending (around £100m).

Cesc Fabregas was the pick of the day scoring two goals (47’, 69’) and assisting another two. The lone Everton goal was scored by Saha (90’). In other matches, Wigan Atheletic’s manager Roberto Martinez had a dream debut with a 2 – 0 win over Aston Villa. Blackburn lost to Manchester City despite having a number of scoring chances. City’s Shaun Wright-Phillips assisted both goals, Adebayor 3’ and Ireland 90’ which saw them through the opening day with an interesting season ahead. Both Sunderland and Fulham won by a goal a piece whereas Stoke City and West-Ham United scored two.

Last year’s champions Manchester United will host Birmingham City today while the league’s runners up- Liverpool will face Tottenham Hotspur, in their first away game this season.