Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has declared his determination to keep hold of Cesc Fabregas despite huge interest from Barcelona.

Last week the Gunners rejected an initial bid, believed to be in the region of £25million, from the Spanish giants for their captain.

Fabregas is believed to have told Wenger of his desire to leave Emirates Stadium after seven years in north London to return to his boyhood club.

However, a defiant Wenger is determined to fight to keep hold of the 23-year-old midfielder, who is currently away on World Cup duty with Spain.

"What is important is that Cesc has a great World Cup and that he comes back to Arsenal with a great desire to do well for the club," he declared.

"We want to keep our best players - that's my huge determination. I built this team for years from 16 and 17 years of age with most of the players.

"We want to continue to work with them because we feel we are very close and strengthen the team in a very strong way."

Meanwhile, Wenger has revealed that Theo Walcott was "destroyed" after missing out on England's World Cup squad for South Africa.

The 21-year-old was one of seven players cut from a provisional 30-man squad by head coach Fabio Capello last week.

Wenger added:"It was a massive surprise to me. It was a very sad surprise and he was destroyed.

"What do you expect him to be? He was certainly expecting to go to the World Cup.

"I expected him to go, but it is part of the game. I was personally very sad.

"But he will bounce back. He is very young. He will come back stronger."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email