Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen is confident that captain Cesc Fabregas will remain at the club this season.
The midfielder, who started his career at Barcelona, has been tipped to re-join the Catalan giants all summer after winning the World Cup with Spain in South Africa.
However, the transfer has failed to materialise and Vermaelen is wanting the rumours to come to an end.
"He is our skipper so he is the leader on the pitch," Vermaelen told Sky Sports News.
"Last year he was very good, he scored a lot goals, he was really important for us so I hope he will stay this year.
"It is difficult for me to have an opinion [on the speculation] about that. I just read things about that in the papers and we don't know what is really going on.
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"I am confident he will stay and I hope he will stay."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email