Barcelona ready to test Arsenal resolve with £24m bid for Adebayor

Barcelona will try to steal a march on AC Milan in the race to sign Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor after club president Joan Laporta sanctioned a £24million transfer kitty to land the prolific Togo striker.

New Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola views the powerful forward as a key part of his rebuilding programme.

He said: 'We want a No 9; we need one to complement Henry and Bojan. We want three up there competing and some of the names in the papers have been very good.'

Adebayor has made no secret of his admiration for Barcelona while his demands for a £80,000-a-week deal at Arsenal have received short shrift.

Adebayor is on record as saying: There is not a player who could say no to Barcelona. If Barcelona make an offer for me and reach an agreement with Arsenal, I would be delighted to go there.'

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said he is determined to keep the striker, but a £17m profit on a player he signed from Monaco two-and-a-half years ago could bring about a change of heart, especially given the tight wage structure at The Emirates.

Guardiola also wants Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb, though the Catalan side are becoming increasingly frustrated at the lack of movement on a deal after making a £12m bid at the weekend.

They could turn their attention instead to Sao Paulo's Brazil midfielder Anderson Hernanes, but it seems Barcelona will not be so easily swayed from their pursuit of Adebayor.

Matching Adebayor's wage demands would not present a problem to Barcelona given the saving they will make once Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o and Deco depart.

Another departure from North London could be Tottenham striker Darren Bent, with Sunderland manager Roy Keane ready to step up his interest after learning Kenwyne Jones could be sidelined for up to nine months with a knee injury.

Keane has £50m at his disposal and is prepared to bid around £12m for a player who cost Spurs £16.5m last year. But Keane knows it will be difficult to persuade Spurs to part for such a loss, especially with Dimitar Berbatov's future in doubt.

Sunderland's North East rivals, Newcastle, have been rebuffed in a £2m move for Bent's team-mate Pascal Chimbonda. The former Wigan defender has been a long-term target for Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan.