Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger does not want the transfer saga surrounding Cesc Fabregas's future to drag on this summer.
For the second summer in succession the Gunners captain has been strongly linked with a return to Barcelona, whom he left to join Arsenal as a 16-year-old in 2003.
Barcelona are hopeful of landing the Spain international, but as yet have not been able to agree a fee for his services.
Wenger wants a quick end to the uncertainty over his captain's future one way or another before the new season gets underway next month as he does not want it to affect the rest of his squad.
"We have to stop at some stage...I hope we can close that very quickly in our favour," said Wenger.
"For us, it's important that the team settles psychologically as quickly as possible because we have a tough start."
"We have to stop at some stage...I hope we can close that very quickly in our favour."
Arsene Wenger on Cesc Fabregas's future Quotes of the week
Arsenal take on Cologne in a pre-season friendly on Saturday, and asked if Fabregas would feature, the Frenchman added: "We will have to see how far he is with his (hamstring) injury...normally, yes," he said.
"He is not back in full training, he is back running on the pitch and the next step is to be back in full training.
"I will have to assess him on Monday. He is in our plans. The problem we face is speculation from everywhere but my target is the same - to keep players and my desire to fight for that is the same."
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