Robert Pires has told Cesc Fabregas his career could go backwards if he leaves Arsenal for Barcelona in the summer.

Fabregas has been constantly linked with a return to Barcelona since leaving the Spanish giants for north London six years ago.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has admitted the club want to bring him to the Nou Camp and it has been reported that the Spain midfielder's attitude has begun to unsettle his Arsenal team-mates.

Pires saw Fabregas make rapid progress before leaving for Spanish side Villarreal in 2006 and he insists the 21-year-old is better off staying at Emirates Stadium.

The Frenchman, who will be playing for Villarreal against Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tomorrow night, said: "The ideal situation for him would be to carry on with Arsenal in order to keep on improving.

"The main reason for him to stay is that he knows he is going to be played week in, week out. I am not saying that he would not play if he was a Real Madrid or a Barcelona player, but it is more difficult to be part of their starting line-up.

"When you come back home, to your country, people have huge expectations. They demand a lot and you are put under a lot of pressure.

"At the present time, he is in a good environment and he works under a great manager who totally relies on him. To my mind, he should stay one year more at Arsenal."

Pires had a nightmare weekend as Villarreal lost 3-0 to Almeria and he was sent off. In contrast Fabregas played his first game for four months in the 2-0 win over Manchester City.

The Spaniard set up both of Emmanuel Adebayor's goals after having recovered from a knee problem and continues to play down the suggestion that he wants to leave Arsenal.

He said: “I've said many times that I'm proud to be captain of this club and I see my future with Arsenal. It's just a story that will go on and on, even if I was to say that I would stay and retire here.

“All I want to do is focus on my football and finish the season well, because I think Arsenal has a lot to say in the next few weeks.”

Meanwhile, manager Arsene Wenger has put contract talks on hold until the end of the season, despite speculation surrounding the futures of Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott. The Arsenal boss wants nothing to get in the way of the club's chances of Champions League success or their hopes of beating Chelsea in the upcoming FA Cup semi-final.

He said: “My thinking is that we focus completely on the short term and not long term because we have such important targets in front of us that we have to show maturity and get rid of all the talks which are not helping us to win games.”