Cesc Fabregas: The one that got away from Arsenal

Many Arsenal fans harbour feelings of resentment towards former midfielder and captain Cesc Fabregas following his return home to Barcelona in 2011.

Some fans felt that Fabregas turned his back on the Arsenal faithful by returning to Catalonia after years of awful chasing from Barcelona. When Arsene Wenger finally decides to call it a day on his career he will surely look back at the failure to bring silverware to the Emirates with Fabregas as the captain of his team as one of his biggest shortcomings during his tenure.

Despite plucking him at just 16 years of age, Wenger was unable to build a team around the young Spaniard that could drag themselves over the finish line and get their hands around some silverware. Some may say Wenger was constrained financially because of the infamous 'stadium debt' but you really can't blames Fabregas for packing his bags and calling it a day the season after losing the Carling Cup final and getting knocked out of the Champions League at the quarter final stage.

Everybody is entitled to their opinion with regards to Fabregas, of course, but for me the man bleeds Arsenal. This is a man that took a penalty against Barcelona with a broken leg for he so loved the club (biblical business) and not only that, but he saw out the last 10 minutes of that game and tried his upmost to win it for his team. 

Why all this talk of Fabregas? Well, he has given a very interesting interview in which he talks of his desire to return to the club one day and also of his fondness of the club that gave him the chance to develop into one of the best midfielders in the world.

He also touches on Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere, saying of Ramsey that if he was still at the club that maybe the Welshman wouldn't be enjoying such a fine run of form. 

Fabregas didn't turn his back on Arsenal. No, the unfortunate truth is that he identified that the club were showing a lack of ambition with too much emphasis on young players as opposed to striking a balance between youth and experience. For Wenger and Arsenal fans, Fabregas was the one that got away.

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