ROMAN ABRAMOVICH plans to make a £50million summer swoop for Cesc Fabregas.
Chelsea's billionaire owner will try to hijack any Barcelona bid to land the Arsenal skipper.
Capturing Fabregas would be an even more astonishing Blues coup than the recent £50m British record signing of Fernando Torres from Liverpool.
Chelsea see the Spaniard as the ideal partner for Frank Lampard in the side's engine room.
Emirates boss Arsene Wenger slapped on a £60m price-tag to stave off the Catalan giants and, in the end, he convinced his captain to stay.
Fabregas, though, was left with a bitter taste in his mouth. He felt Barcelona could have done more to convince Arsenal to sell, after he had taken the huge step of asking to leave in a face-to-face with mentor Wenger.
Fabregas explained in SunSport that returning home to play for his idol Pep Guardiola and alongside the world's greatest players like Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta and Leo Messi was too good an opportunity for him to turn down.
Barca are expected to try again, though there are doubts they can afford the massive fee.
And it is their reluctance that might prove key in Chelsea's efforts to snatch Fabregas.
The biggest obstacle could be his reluctance to cross London. A move to Stamford Bridge would be viewed as treason.
Fabregas has admitted he feels a huge debt to Wenger and Arsenal, so fans will hope for those reasons Abramovich will find it impossible to lure him away.
Then again, two weeks ago any Liverpool supporter would have said the same about Torres.
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