Joan Laporta claims Cesc Fabregas is Barcelona's top summer target and that the talented midfielder wants to re-join his former club.

The European champions have held a long-standing interest in the 22-year-old Spain international, who left Camp Nou in search of first-team football six years ago.

With arch-rivals Real Madrid splashing the cash this summer Barca president Laporta is eager to add Fabregas, who he claims wants to play for the Catalan giants, to Pep Guardiola's star-studded squad.

However, any attempt by Laporta to bring Fabregas back to Camp Nou is likely to end in failure with the talented playmaker only last week reiterating his commitment to the Gunners.

Laporta also claims to have immense respect for Arsenal, although his fresh public declaration of his desire to sign Fabregas is unlikely to go down well at Emirates Stadium.

"Cesc Fabregas has the Barcelona DNA in his body and we know that he wants to play for this club," Laporta told Cadena Cope.

"At the moment he is the leader at Arsenal and a very important player for them. But Cesc is wanted by me, by the coach Pep Guardiola and by the sport director Txiki Begiristain.

"We are concentrating all of our efforts on it, but at the same time we have a lot of respect for Arsenal.

"We have positive relations with Arsenal so it will not be an easy topic to talk to them about."