United's Fabregas pursuit gathers pace

Manchester United are determined and confident of signing Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona, according to two reports published this morning.

Both The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph insist that Manchester United are getting closer to signing Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona. Although United's interest is not news, both stories state that Fabregas himself is open to the move. The Telegraph story claims Fabregas "is prepared to considered a return to England", while the Mail insist that "It is understood [Cesc Fabregas has] expressed an interest in joining the Barclays Premier League champions and United feel they can do the deal."

A potential spanner in the works is Fabregas' comments today that he would turn down a move away from Barcelona unless he was informed he was not needed, although there is rarely much to be learned or divined from comments of this type. Players moving away are understandably keen not to burn any bridges, in case moves fall through and to extract higher wages from their suitors. Of course, it's a possibility that Fabregas is speaking the truth and will spurn United's advances, but this is not the certain 'snag' that it has been painted as, let alone a deal-breaker.

We can now say for certain that, given the number and consistency of the reports, United's desire to sign Fabregas is very real. Whether he will actually be turning out in a red shirt in September, however, is another matter.