Barcelona to make fresh Fabregas bid

Barcelona will make a £30m for unsettled Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas if they are able to offload their Cameroon hitman Samuel Eto'o to Manchester City, the Sun reveals. The European champions have been courting their former player Fabregas all summer, and Arsene Wenger may have to accept that his 22-year-old Spanish star will return home if Eto'o finally accepts a move to Eastlands and sets in motion a Barca bid...

Rafa Benitez took a swipe at Gareth Barry yesterday for choosing a move to Manchester City over Liverpool, accusing the former Aston Villa player of making the move "100 per cent for money", reports the Guardian. The volatile Liverpool manager also demanded loyalty from two players who have been targeted by Spanish sides, Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso, saying: "When you are the manager of a top side you can tell players that they are staying. We have to be strong enough and, if we have to be, we will be. Both players are under contract and we are really pleased about that. Don't forget we signed Alonso from Real Sociedad when nobody knew about him and we renewed his contract two years ago"...

Liverpool completed some business yesterday when Jermaine Pennant left the Anfield club for newly promoted La Liga side Real Zaragoza in Spain on a free transfer, as reported by the Times. "I wanted to come to Spain and I had offers from important teams in Europe but joined Zaragoza," said the 26-year-old, who holds the unenviable honour of being the first Premier League player to take to the pitch wearing an electronic tag while on release from prison. Pennant was bought by Liverpool from Birmingham for £8m in 2006...

Harry Redknapp's hopes of signing Chelsea star Joe Cole, whom he nurtured during his managership of West Ham, appear to have been dashed by the 27-year-old agreeing to sign a new four-year deal at Stamford Bridge, according to the Daily Mail. Cole was sidelined for much of last season by a knee injury that also saw him left out of the England squad, and he will be aware that Fabio Capello will want to see performances from him at the highest level in the Champions League before considering him for the national team, especially should they make it to the World Cup next summer...