“Speculation goes well at the moment. Sometimes people are very creative and imaginative. I have a big respect for the press in general, but some people are just not serious.”

“They sit behind their desk and they think ‘what kind of stupid idea can I create’ and the next day you have to answer that stupid idea. That is not really serious.”

In an interview with BBC today, Arsenal’s CEO Ivan Gazidis is again refuting reports coming from Spain that claims a bidding war is already brewing between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid for Cesc Fabregas.

“I can’t marry the stories that I read with reality,” said Gazidis.

“Fabregas is a victim of the news cycle in Spain around elections at clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid.”

“If I was advising anybody reading those stories I would say you can probably expect to hear lots more because people want to be elected into positions at those clubs.”

“We are very confident that this team will stay together, progress together and achieve success together.”

Fabregas – who has spent much of this season on the sidelines with a serious knee injury – has been linked with both Barcelona and Real Madrid on numerous occasions but Gazidis says he is happy at the Emirates Stadium.

“Cesc is extremely happy at Arsenal and totally committed to the club, and that’s every message that Arsene Wenger or I have ever received from him or his representatives.”

“Arsenal is not a gambling club. It is a very conservatively-run club. Arsenal offers good money too,” adding, “It offers a great development programme and a superb environment so it is difficult for me to imagine why players would want to leave.”

Despite insisting Arsenal is not short of cash, Gazidis did admit that the club has a financial model it intends to stick with to ensure the club is financially viable.

Fabregas, 22, began his football career at Barcelona but left to join Arsenal as a 16-year-old in 2003 and has since become one of the most influential midfielders in world football. He is contracted to the Gunners until 2014.

In an interview with a reporter from ‘Weser Kurier’, a Bremen-based German newspaper yesterday, Germany’s international footballer of Turkish ancestry, Mesut Ozil admitted to have a desire to make a move to FC Barcelona, a fact that he keeps on repeating in interviews.

When asked, “Do you have any wish, any big ambition, perhaps in a few years time?”

“My dream team has always been Barcelona, and I would like to play there someday. It has been my dream since I was a small boy,” was his unequivocal answer.

“But I still have a contract with Bremen until 2011, and all that is not important for now … I just want to concentrate on Bremen, and not about the future.”

Asked if he will renew his contract, considering he could leave Werder Bremen for free come June 2011, the 21-year-old attacking midfielder/winger just said, “18 months is a long time in a footballer’s life. I don’t know about that at this moment, but sometime in the future, I will leave.”

Mesut joined Bundesliga club Werder Bremen on 31 January 2008 for a reported fee of 4.3 million euros from Schalke 04. He made his debut for the Germany national football team during a friendly match against Norway on 11 February 2009, and scored his first international goal for the senior team against South Africa, in another  friendly match on 5 September 2009.

In the Bundesliga club’s current campaign, Mesut has already scored 6 goals (6 leagues), and provided 10 assists (6 leagues, 1 German Cup and 3 Europa League) from 17 matches in all competitions, his best return in his career with the club so far.

According to the paper, if Werder Bremen is to off-load Mesut next summer’s transfer window, he is expected to fetch around 15 – 20 million euros.

In a press conference after the team’s training session this morning, FC Barcelona midfielder Pedro Rodriguez said he is excited to return to his island home of Tenerife and the chance to play an official club match there, and made the pledge of not celebrating any goal that the Catalan team might have scored.

“It will be very special. I think I will love it. I hope I could play, and play well, but should the team scores, I will not celebrate it with the team out of respect for the people who have always supported me even though I have never played for CD Tenerife.”

“It is a dream fulfilled returning there donning Barcelona colours. When I was small, I could not have imagined any of this.”

Touching on their bad start to the year, Pedro acknowledged the unfortunate fact but like his coach, said the team is “calm” about it, and determines that the team will “continue to work as they always do” to turn things around.

Regarding the upcoming Liga match, the 22-year-old former canterano, warned that it is not going to be a foregone conclusion as some people think, because Tenerife is “going through a rough patch” but still believes Barcelona is up for the task at the Estadio Heliodoro: “They need the points but we also want them. We will go for the win.”

“The team is well physically and mentally, full of desires and aspirations, but we know we still have to take things slowly to get the results we crave.”

The player also recalled the last time Barcelona played in Tenerife (2 Feb 2002, 0-6): “I watch the match and even though it was a difficult moment for fans of Tenerife, I think it was a good game and I like it a lot.”

Asked about the whistles directed at defender Chygrynskiy on Tuesday night, Pedro would not want to reprimand the fans but reminded them of the “difficult” circumstances facing the 22-year-old Ukrainian: “He is trying to adapt. He is still young and is going to improve a lot here.”

Finally, asked for his opinion about Guardiola’s renewal, the player admitted his wish is for his boss to “remain at the club for many more years” because for him, the Santpedor-born is “a brilliant and one of the greatest coaches around.”