Fabregas to miss Arsenal's Asia tour

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has been ruled out of the club's pre-season tour of Asia after suffering an injury, manager Arsene Wenger confirmed on Saturday. Fabregas, who is being strongly linked with a summer move to Barcelona, has sustained a muscle strain and will not travel with the Gunners, who fly out to Malaysia on Sunday. "Fabregas will not travel because he still has a small muscular problem. He will stay and practice here," Wenger told Arsenal.com. Wenger insisted however that the club was taking the "strongest possible squad" to Asia, where Arsenal will play two matches in Kuala Lumpur and China before returning to Europe. The only other doubt concerns defender Emmanuel Eboue, who is nursing a calf strain. "There is a doubt about Eboue who has done his calf," Wenger said. Wenger is also hopeful that Samir Nasri, another player who is believed to be eyeing a move away from Arsenal, will travel with the squad. After weeks of speculation about the futures of Fabregas and Nasri, Wenger on Friday vowed to do everything in his power to persuade the duo to stay. "Our position is always the same, we want to keep Cesc and I will fight as hard as I can to keep him," Wenger said. "Samir Nasri is exactly the same. We will do everything we can to keep him," said Wenger. Wenger has already seen defender Gael Clichy leave the club this week in a deal that took him to Manchester City.