Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri near Arsenal exit

The wantaway midfielders are both poised to finalise moves away from the Gunners which could net the club a combined total of almost 60 million but will leave manager Arsene Wenger without two of his most influential players as the start of the Premier League season looms large

According to BBC Sport, Fabregas is on the verge of signing for European champions Barcelona for a fee believed to be in the region of 35 million while Nasri is poised to move to Premier League rivals Manchester City with the clubs close to agreeing a fee between 22 million and 24 million.

On the Fabregas reports, Wenger last night admitted: "That is completely the truth. We hope it will be sorted out very quickly one way or the other. We will know very quickly."

Speaking about Nasri's situation, the manager added: "The Nasri situation is stable. Again it is very difficult to speak about possible transfers, but we are in a situation where we have to make decisions one way or the other. Ideally you want it to be sorted out before the season starts."

Barcelona have been pursuing Gunners captain Fabregas, 24, for the last two seasons and the fact that the Spain international would be unable to feature for the Catalan club in the Champions League if he plays a part in the first leg of Arsenal's play-off against Udinese on Tuesday is a key factor in their bid to complete a deal before that game.

The package is reported to include a down payment of 30 million, with an additional 5 million in performance-based add-ons at a later stage.

Barcelona had initially seen a 27 million offer rebuffed earlier in the summer, as Arsenal remained steadfast in their demands over a 40 million fee for Fabregas. However, with Barca not willing to significantly up their cash bid, and Wenger admitting the player was unsettled, it now appears as if Arsenal will have to allow the deal to go through for less than they had wanted.

France international Nasri is in the final year of his contract and although Wenger had previously indicated that he would prefer to let the former Marseille player leave for free next summer rather than sell, it appears Arsenal will also reluctantly cash in on the 24-year old.

It is understood that all the funds recouped from the sale of Fabregas will be reinvested in new players, leaving Wenger until the end of the month to buy in replacements.

Fabregas is reported to be due 4 million in compensation for the remainder of his long-term Arsenal contract, as technically the player never asked for a transfer. However the Spaniard may be prepared to waive that payment in order to seal a return to his boyhood club.

Fabregas had, officially at least, been struggling for match fitness because of a hamstring injury which saw him miss the club's Asia Tour and other pre-season games, while Wenger consciously omitted his captain from the Emirates Cup.

Fabregas joined Arsenal for nothing from Barcelona in 2003, and has made more than 300 appearances for the Gunners, scoring 57 goals.

However, despite winning both the European Championships and World Cup with Spain, club success has not followed for the midfielder, who missed the Gunners' shock Carling Cup final defeat at Wembley through injury.

Arsenal winger Andrey Arshavin accepts there is little any club can do when a player has his heart set on a move away. He said: "The loss of any one of them would be enormous, and we naturally want to see Cesc and Samir play with us in the future – but if the player wants to leave the club.... it is hard to say (whether they will stay]."

Wenger is determined to further bolster his squad following the 12 million arrival of pacy forward Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Southampton. Costa Rican forward Joel Campbell is said to be close to a 1 million move to the Emirates Stadium while Valencia midfielder Juan Mata is a long-time target of the Frenchman.

Defensive reinforcements are top of the agenda, with a 6 million move for Birmingham's centre-half Scott Dann said to be imminent after Arsenal failed to complete a deal for Everton's Phil Jagielka or Gary Cahill from Bolton.