Barcelona will make an opening bid for Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas on Monday.

The Mirror says Barcelona president Joan Laporta will begin the desperate attempt to land Fabregas on Monday.

And the Spanish giants believe they will still be able to complete the deal for Fabregas before the start of the World Cup.

Barcelona privately believe they have successfully completed their first phase of trying to sign the Arsenal captain.

But Barcelona are not intending to go above £30million in their pursuit of Fabregas - and that falls way short of Arsenal's demands.

Barcelona are intending to put forward a list of players to Arsenal who are available in part exchange which will include Mexican defender Rafa Marquez and Ukrainian centre half Dmytro Chygrynskiy.

Youngsters Jonathan Dos Santos, Gai Assulin and Thiago Alcantara have also been mentioned.

Barcelona are no longer putting forward Yaya Toure - who Barcelona say is now a target for Chelsea - and Zlatan Ibrahimovic as part of a player-plus-cash deal as they do not believe Arsenal are interested.