With Cesc Fábregas apparently surplus to requirements at his boyhood club Barcelona, his other boyhood club, Arsenal, have first refusal on the £35m midfielder and are believed to be interested in making use of the buy-back clause a canny lawyer inserted in his contract when they sold their former skipper on to the Catalan club in the summer of 2011. The successful season enjoyed by Mathieu Flamini upon his return from Milan proves the Gunners have form in the field of successfully reintegrating former players into their side and should Fábregas return they will move for David Seaman, Perry Groves and Eddie McGoldrick.

Arsenal are also being linked with a move for the 23-year-old French winger Antoine Griezmann, who would cost them £18m from Spanish side Real Sociedad and has a known admirer in Arsène Wenger. “We are following him in great detail,” said the Arsenal manager, sounding slightly more sinister than he perhaps meant to. “He attracts other clubs as well but we follow him, he is a known commodity.” Queens Park Rangers striker Loïc Rémy is another player being tailed by an Arsenal surveillance unit that is having to contend with their counterparts from Liverpool trying to muscle in on their territory.

In other news pertaining to Arsenal, the continuing saga of Bacary Sagna’s apparently imminent move to Manchester City has taken another twist, with the Manchester Evening News reporting that the Premier League champions are set to land the right-back despite a last-ditch effort to derail their efforts by local rivals Manchester United. Forgotten City winger Scott Sinclair could be tempted out of retirement by Southampton, who seem to have realised they’ll need some players to take the bare look off their training ground once the Premier League big boys have made off with all the talented first team players who served them so well last season. José Fonte is the latest player to be mentioned in conjunction with the exodus from the south coast, with Steve Bruce ready to sign him up ahead of Hull City’s European odyssey next season.

Having spent all day every day telling anyone who’ll listen that David Luiz is off to Barcelona to replace the retired Carles Puyol, the Rumour Mill is pleased to report that various news outlets are reporting that it is in fact Paris Saint-Germain who are “on the verge of sealing a £50m deal” for Chelsea’s Brazil centre-half.

Depending on who you believe, Yaya Touré is or is not on his way to Chelsea, who may need to put a big red ring around “13 May” in next year’s office calendar as a reminder to buy a big cake, 32 candles and a Bugatti. Marouane Fellaini’s birthday is on 22 November, but Manchester United are hoping to avoid having to buy him a present by cutting their losses and moving the Belgian midfielder on to any club who’ll give them £15m.

Hertha Berlin striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga is wanted by Everton and West Ham, while Newcastle United are also being mentioned in conjunction with a move for the German Under-21 international, despite their strict policy of no longer buying players. The Liverpool Echo reports that Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm could be off to Anfield to provide cover for Simon Mignolet, in a state of affairs that has the Welsh club’s manager, Garry Monk, eyeing up Alex McCarthy of Reading and Lukasz Fabianski as potential replacements for the big Dutchman. Swansea have also agreed a £7m deal for 20-year-old Standard Liège striker Michy Batshuayi, but the Belgian is apparently keeping his options open because he’d prefer to go to Arsenal or Everton. Cheeky boy.