Cesc Fabregas
Cesc Fabregas Reuters

Arsenal and Manchester United have been told that summer target Cesc Fabregas will be available for £45m, according to the Daily Mail.

The Red Devils had three bids rejected for the player last summer and are preparing themselves for yet another pursuit after reports in Spain suggest that the Spaniard is out of favour with the Catalans and is likely to be sold to make room for new recruits.

However, Barcelona's valuation of the player may raise eyebrows, especially with United needing massive investment in other areas of the field to build a title winning squad next season.

United are likely to be joined by Arsenal in bringing their former captain back to the Emirates. However, the valuation coupled with the fact that Arsenal have a lot of flair players on the pitch in the form of Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey, means that Fabregas will be a luxury that Arsene Wenger can ill afford on a tight budget.

The Gunners are in desperate need of a striker and are unlikely to spend such money on an attacking midfielder.

Fabregas left Arsenal to join Barcelona in 2011 and has vindicated his choice by winning a La Liga title with the Catalans. However, his performance has gone down over the past couple of seasons and has urged the Spanish club to reconsider his future after refusing to let him leave last summer.

Meanwhile, Louis van Gaal has been confirmed as the new manager of Manchester United and will take over the reins of the club after the World Cup, where he in charge of the Dutch national team.

The manager has been handed a £200m warchest to spend in the summer with United needing two defenders to replace Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand alongside a couple of central midfielder to replace Michael Carrick, who is entering his mid-thirties.