The Málaga coach, Manuel Pellegrini, has warned Arsenal that they cannot expect to sign Santi Cazorla for a knockdown price but has stopped short of saying the Spaniard is not for sale.

He did, however, say he did not think the club's owners would want to sell given the impact it would have on Málaga's Champions League prospects.

Arsenal had hoped to take advantage of Málaga's financial problems to tie up a €20m (£16m) deal for the highly rated winger. But on the day that a representative of the club's Qatari owners finally flew into Málaga to seek a solution to the paralysis that has gripped the club, with players going unpaid, the coach spoke from their pre-season tour of Venezuela.

Asked about Cazorla, Pellegrini said: "As far as the construction of the squad goes there are always offers for various players.

" They say that there is an offer for Santi Cazorla; selling Cazorla for €20m would be giving him away. I don't think the club is in a position nor has the intention to do so.

"It would undermine the intention to compete in the Champions League. If important offers arrive for players you always listen to them, but I don't think that Santi is going to leave the club for 20m because that would be giving him away and it would send the wrong message out."