Fabregas has made 303 appearances for the Gunners scoring 57 goals
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has said his team are very close to signing Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas but there are still details to finalise on the deal.
The Catalan club are hoping to unveil Fabregas at a ceremony by Monday with Arsenal sources resigned to losing the midfielder for about £35m.
Guardiola said the deal was "very close but he's not here, there's still small details left to complete."
The 24-year-old is set to return to the club he left as a 16-year-old in 2003.
CESC FABREGAS FACTFILE
- 1987: Born in the Catalonia town of Vilassar de Mar
- 2003: Leaves boyhood heroes Barcelona for Arsenal aged 16
- 2008: Installed as Arsenal club captain
- 2011: Set to rejoin Barcelona
Fabregas trained with his Arsenal team-mates for what appeared to be the final time on Friday morning and has already been welcomed by Barcelona captain Carles Puyol and defender Gerard Pique via the social networking site Twitter.
Puyol tweeted: "Welcome home! Happy to have you here!" while Pique added: "He's finally here!"
Guardiola said that he did not see Pique or Puyol's comments, but what mattered was what sport director Andoni Zubizarreta told him about the transfer.
Barcelona have been chasing Fabregas since last summer and it is believed Arsenal will receive a guaranteed £30m with a further £5m dependent on the number of games played and trophies won by the Spaniard during his time at the Nou Camp.
Reports in Spain have suggested Fabregas would travel to Barcelona this weekend and possibly attend the club's Super Cup match against Real Madrid on Sunday.
Both Fabregas and Samir Nasri were left out of the squad to play Newcastle at St James' Park, with Nasri expected to sign for Manchester City for about £23m.
Arsene Wenger Arsenal managerYou do not want to lose big players. We fight to have big players so you do not want to lose them
Despite their absences from the Arsenal squad, Wenger refused to be drawn on the speculation over the midfielders' futures on Friday morning, saying he expected "nobody to leave".
Before the deal was confirmed Wenger said any losses from his squad would not be terminal.
The Frenchman added: "We are all replaceable. All the cemeteries are full of replaceable people.
"But you do not want to lose big players. We fight to have big players so you do not want to lose them."
- Saturday: Newcastle (a)
- 16 August: Udinese (h)
- 20 August: Liverpool (h)
- 24 August: Udinese (a)
- 28 August: Man Utd (a)
Despite Nasri starting and playing for 65 minutes in France's game against Chile on Wednesday, Wenger insisted the 24-year-old was suffering from an illness.
"Nasri went for the national team, he was sick, and he has not completely recovered yet. There are no other aspects why he is not in the squad."
Meanwhile, Wenger said that attempts to sign Valencia winger Juan Mata have failed.
"We will not do (a deal for) Juan Mata. I don't have to give a reason," he said.
Fabregas seals Carling Cup semi-final win
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