Barcelona unwilling to pay Arsenal valuation of Cesc Fabregas



Sandro Rosell, the Barcelona president, has admitted the Catalan club are unwilling to pay Arsenal's £35 million (Dh208.6m) valuation of their captain Cesc Fabregas, but said the midfielder is doing "all he can" to join Pep Guardiola's side.

Fabregas' wish to join Barca — where he started out as a youth player — is no secret, although the midfielder claimed he was happy at Arsenal just last week.

But the Gunners captain, who left Barca at 16, also admitted he dreams of playing at Camp Nou and Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood revealed there had been contact with the Catalan club this week, saying Fabregas' desire to return home was "understandable".

In a similar stance to last summer, when Barca had two bids turned down for the player, Rosell claimed the Catalan club would not pay over the odds for the midfielder.

"He [Cesc] is doing everything he can to come [here]," the Barca president told Catalan station TV3 last night.

"Guardiola knows the values of players and Cesc's is less than €40m. Barcelona will offer less and if they [Arsenal] don't accept, then he won't come. Pep knows the club is not well-off in terms of money."

Meanwhile, Barca are expected to seal the signature of Chile forward Alexis Sanchez this week from Udinese, but Rosell appeared cautious.

"There is nothing closed with Alexis," he said.

Rosell also revealed that the fullback Eric Abidal had rejected a new contract offer from the club and admitted relations with the Real Madrid president Florentino Perez were "on standby" after their failure to act against doping allegations aimed at Barca last season by radio station Cadena COPE.

"I haven't spoken to Florentino Perez since the last game [against Madrid]," he said.

"My relationship with him is on standby because there are wounds that are still not closed and that need to scar."

COPE claimed the allegations came from a senior director and Rosell says Real's lukewarm denial has failed to convince him of the innocence of Barca's greatest rivals.

"Actions speak louder than words and it's not that I don't believe Florentino Perez, but I would believe him more if Real Madrid had taken COPE to court," he said.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Where to buy art books in the UAE

There are a number of speciality art bookshops in the UAE.

In Dubai, The Lighthouse at Dubai Design District has a wonderfully curated selection of art and design books. Alserkal Avenue runs a pop-up shop at their A4 space, and host the art-book fair Fully Booked during Art Week in March. The Third Line, also in Alserkal Avenue, has a strong book-publishing arm and sells copies at its gallery. Kinokuniya, at Dubai Mall, has some good offerings within its broad selection, and you never know what you will find at the House of Prose in Jumeirah. Finally, all of Gulf Photo Plus’s photo books are available for sale at their show. 

In Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi has a beautiful selection of catalogues and art books, and Magrudy’s – across the Emirates, but particularly at their NYU Abu Dhabi site – has a great selection in art, fiction and cultural theory.

In Sharjah, the Sharjah Art Museum sells catalogues and art books at its museum shop, and the Sharjah Art Foundation has a bookshop that offers reads on art, theory and cultural history.

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
How to invest in gold

Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.

A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.

Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”

Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”

Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”

By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.

You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.

You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed 

How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE

When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.

Richard Jewell

Director: Clint Eastwood

Stars: Paul Walter Hauser, Sam Rockwell, Brandon Stanley

Two-and-a-half out of five stars 

Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now