Barcelona vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu admits Cesc Fabregas' commitment to Arsenal is a big blow to the club.
Barca chased the 23 year-old midfielder all summer and made two bids to bring the Spain star back to the club where he started his career, but Arsenal were unwilling to do business and the player himself released a statement on Friday confirming he will be staying in north London.
"The Cesc issue is over," Bartomeu told reporters in Beijing, where Barcelona are currently on a pre-season tour.
"It is a bad piece of news both in a sporting sense and sentimentally."
And Bartomeu admitted that Arsenal had never been willing to part with their prized asset.
"Arsenal never gave us a price for Cesc. They declared him non-transferable," he said. "The team still has weaknesses, but we'll now look at home (to the youth team) first."
