Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho has launched a £50 million bid to midfielder Cesc Fabregas away from Arsenal.
The Spaniard has been a long-term target of both Barcelona and Real Madrid, but the Mourinho is hopeful an offer of £30m plus £20m-rated striker Mario Balotelli will persuade Gunners boss Arsene Wenger to sell his most valuable asset to the Inter Milan.
Fabregas has often pledged his future to the Gunners, but a fifth trophyless season could yet persuade him to change his mind. His current contract at the Emirates Stadium runs until 2013, and the club are set to offer him a new five-year deal worth £120,000-a-week to try and persuade him to stay even longer.
Arsenal have long been admirers of Balotelli, who may be key to the deal's success. Wenger has reportedly sent scouts to watch the 19-year-old on more than one occasion this season, and the player himself is believed to want to leave the club after a bust-up with Jose Mourinho that saw him left in Italy for the Inter's successful Champions League visit to Chelsea at the beginning of the month.
But Arsenal are already set to sign Bordeaux striker Maraoune Chamakh in the summer, and might feel their squad does not need another striker. Both Manchester City and Chelsea have also been a linked with a move for Balote
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