Arsenal may swap Fabregas for Higuain: report

Arsenal may be ready to sell Cesc Fabregas to Real Madrid — if they get Argentine star Gonzalo Higuain in return, a Spanish sports newspaper said Thursday.

Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger “is only willing to part with his captain if Real includes Gonzalo Higuain in the deal,” said Marca, which did not indicate its sources.

It said Real would prefer to offer Dutch midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart to the London club, and would only release Higuain for 35 million euros, 10 million less than they would pay the Gunners for Fabregas, Marca said.

But competition for the 22-year-old Spanish international from bitter rivals Barcelona may force their hand, it said.

In comments on the UEFA website, Higuain said he would like to end his career at Real Madrid, “the team and the city are my second home, and it would be fantastic.”

Fabregas, Arsenal’s top scorer with 12 goals, is under contract with the Gunners until 2014 but his future has been the subject of much speculation this season.

The player himself last month played down talk of a move back to his native Spain, saying that his future lies in the English Premier League.

Fabregas began his career with Barcelona but was signed by Arsenal in September 2003.

The following month he became Arsenal’s youngest ever player in any competition when he appeared in a League Cup tie against Rotherham aged just 16 years and 177 days.