Arsene Wenger has said that he hopes Cesc Fabregas gets “the respect he deserves” when Chelsea face Arsenal at The Emirates over the weekend.
Fabregas only managed to win an FA Cup medal during his time at Arsenal, though he became a firm fans’ favourite and developed into one of the most technically gifted midfielders in the world.
Fabregas joined Arsenal in 2003 at the age of just 16, staying with the Gunners for nearly 8 years. He left for his boyhood club in 2011 and went on to win La Liga, Copa Del Ray and the UEFA Super Cup with the Spanish Giants.
In the summer of 2014 Arsene Wenger turned down a chance to buy Fabregas back from Barcelona, resulting in the Spaniard joining Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea team for a fee believed to be in the region of £30 million.
Wenger has played down the notion that he should regret not re-signing Fabregas by saying, “The regret I have is that he wanted to leave here. This club and myself had a very positive influence on Cesc’s life, so I would be a bit uncomfortable to have to justify today why he is not here. I believe I would rather it was the other way around”.
Arsenal trail Chelsea by 10 points and are, realistically, the only team that could stop the Blues from winning the title. Wenger will be hoping that he can lead his Arsenal team to their first victory against Jose Mourinho’s men in 12 times of asking. He’ll also be keen to ensure that his decision not to resign Fabregas doesn’t come back to haunt him.