Fabregas negotiations 'ongoing,' says Man Utd boss Moyes

The Scot was unwilling to give too much away when asked about the progress of the Red Devils' pursuit of the midfielder but confirmed Robin van Persie is fit to play on Friday.

Manchester United manager David Moyes has revealed that negotiations with Barcelona for Cesc Fabregas are "ongoing."

It emerged this week that the Premier League champion is willing to make a final 40 million euro bid after its second approach was rejected. Moyes has spoken candidly about United's desire to sign the former Arsenal captain in recent weeks, but he was unwilling to go into detail when asked about the current
state of events.

"Things are ongoing," he told reporters.

Moyes also revealed that Robin van Persie's injury is not as bad as first feared. The striker was substituted during United's 3-2 defeat against Yokohama F Marinos on Tuesday, which led to criticism of Moyes from prominent fitness expert Raymond Verheijen.

Verheijen branded Moyes a "dinosaur" after the manager admitted to over-training Van Persie in order to boost his fitness, but he will be back in action against Cerezo Osaka on Friday.

"Robin was a precaution the other night," Moyes told reporters. "I expect he and [Danny] Welbeck to both play [on Friday]. Carrick had a tight groin and is doing better but probably won't feature tomorrow. He should resume training over the weekend."

Moyes also confirmed that Nemanja Vidic, Nani and Antonio Valencia are all working towards fitness back in England, while Wayne Rooney is on target to feature in United's friendly against AIK on Aug. 6.

"There was a practice match at the Aon Training Complex the other day - Vida, Nani and Valencia all had playing time in that," Moyes said. "Wayne is running and at the level we thought he'd be at. He'll step that up this week."