The Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola, believes Arsenal made the right decision in keeping Cesc Fábregas and said he would have done the same thing.

The Spanish champions made two significant bids to sign the 23-year-old midfielder, the second in the region of £29m, but Fábregas announced on Friday he was staying in north London after Arsenal said they would refuse to entertain bids of any size.

"I understand Arsenal and I understand Wenger," Guardiola said. "I wouldn't have let him leave either," he told reporters after Barcelona concluded their Asian tour with a 3-0 win over Beijing Guoan. "I just hope Cesc carries on enjoying what is such a special and competitive league, the Premier."

Guardiola insists the failure to sign Fábregas will not alter his plans for the coming season. "I'm not worried about those that aren't here, it won't affect any of our plans," he said.

"The market is open until the end of the month and we will look to see what we can find, but there's no hurry. We have a great squad to compete in all competitions and that is our objective once more."