Cesc Fabregas has been linked with a return to Barca for several seasons
Arsenal are prepared to sell Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona if the two clubs can agree a fee, BBC Sport has learned.
The Premier League club have rejected an initial bid but are now bracing themselves for an improved offer.A senior Arsenal official said: "The offer was made formally in writing to our chief executive (Ivan Gazidis), and we said no straight away."
Asked if the club expected another bid, the source said: "Possibly. If it's enough I expect we'll have to sell."
Arsenal's stance appears to have shifted since last season when they rejected two offers from Barcelona for Fabregas, a former trainee at the Nou Camp, and stated they had no intention of selling him at any price.
Since then, American billionaire Stan Kroenke has taken control of the London club and now faces the first major decision of his reign.
Barcelona's president Sandro Rosell said last week that Fabregas was trying to pave the way for a return to the club he left as a 16-year-old, but that the heavily indebted Spanish giants would not pay more than £35m for him.
Barcelona's latest bid is reported to be around £27m, well short of Arsenal's valuation of more than £40m.
DID YOU KNOW?
- Cesc Fabregas is a life-long Barca fan who watched his first game as a nine-month old baby
But Arsenal's board, consisting of Kroenke, Gazidis, chairman Peter Hill-Wood and directors Ken Friar, Sir Chips Keswick and Lord Harris of Peckham are aware of the difficulties of keeping the 24-year-old against his will.
His recent injury problems, combined with the emergence of Jack Wilshere, and the likely arrival of Argentinian Ricardo Alvarez, may also have influenced their thinking.
Fabregas is in Barcelona this week on a holiday, and his former club would like to complete a deal before he has to return to pre-season training in London next Tuesday ahead of a tour to the Far East.
Sources in Spain say that Barcelona have already begun talks with one of Europe's leading sports agencies over maximising the commercial opportunities of Fabregas' potential homecoming, suggesting a degree of confidence the deal can be finalised.
Meanwhile, former director Lady Bracewell-Smith, who made millions of pounds selling her 15.9% stake in the club to Kroenke this year, enabling him to take control of Arsenal, appeared to criticise the American's leadership.
She tweeted: "In time we will need a more dynamic pro-active younger board, and a good directional leadership. I agree that current board should all go."
"They are passe. Have nothing more to give to the club at all."
And on Fabregas she said: "It is obvious he wants to go. You cannot keep a player when his heart is not in it."
Lady Bracewell-Smith also rejected calls from some fans for the return of former vice-chairman David Dein, who was sacked in 2007. She wrote: "No Dein. Root cause of all the troubles at AFC. Unable to work with other board members."
Dein declined to respond when contacted by BBC Sport.