Barcelona believe that they will secure a deal to re-sign Cesc Fabregas from Arsenal for next season, according to a report in Sport.

The Gunners captain has already been the subject of intense interest from the club he left in 2003, but will reportedly make his long-awaited return next summer.

President Joan Laporta wants to strike a deal before the end of the current season so that Fabregas does not become a player who can be used as a pawn by one of the men vying to replace him at the helm in the forthcoming elections.

Sport is very close to the current Barca administration, and their report, which states that the player also wants a deal to be concluded, can be considered more than just hearsay.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is aware that he is set to lose Fabregas because only his request to chairman Peter Hill-Wood stopped the player leaving in August along with Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor.

The Catalan star's arrival would be hugely significant for Laporta, because it was in the months that the current president was campaigning to takeover at Camp Nou that the player left.

Now Cesc is wanted back, and the Blaugrana supremo believes that an agreement will be in place that all candidates for the elections next summer will agree upon. This will also stop rival Sandro Rosell from being able to sign the creative midfielder.

Fabregas knows that his grandfather wants to see him play in the Barca shirt as it was he who first took the Spain international to watch a game at Camp Nou when he was just nine months old.

It is that connection, allied with Barca's determination and Arsenal's inability to win silverware on a regular basis, that is set to cement the move.

Sport believe that Fabregas' recent statements, in which he said he is committed to the Gunners, are signals that he will give everything this term before leaving as a fans' favourite.