Cesc Fabregas has had the privilege of playing with some of the best players on the planet. The Spaniard moved to Arsenal when he was only 16 from Barcelona's famed La Masia academy.
He played a starring role with the Gunners, spending 8 seasons with the club before a dream move back to his childhood team Barcelona. The playmaker didn’t enjoy his best years in Spain but did get the opportunity to play with Lionel Messi.
The 28-year-old talked about the player he looked up to the most when he was growing up. Speaking on Sky Sports he said,“I’ve been a Barcelona fan since I was very little, and it was always Michael Laudrup.” Laudrup was one of the best attacking midfielders in his time and it can be seen why Fabregas enjoys playing in a similar position.
The playmaker admits to being inspired the way he played but he was also a fan of other Barcelona greats. "I used to like the way he played, Guardiola, Koeman when he scored that goal.
Fabregas was also clear on his opinion about a former Barca and Real Madrid player. “I used to like Figo a lot until....”
Fabregas has played alongside his fair share of superstars, with Messi probably being the best of the lot. “I’ve been so lucky to play with the very, very best”, he said. Fabregas was very young when he joined Arsenal but his talent was obvious to everyone.
He was considered as a successor to Patrick Viera at the time and played 33 league matches in 2004-05 season winning the FA Cup that year. Viera left Arsenal after that season and Fabregas became the main man in midfield.
The midfielder formed a great partnership with Gunners legend Thierry Henry, considered one of the greatest players to have graced the Premier league. When asked who the best player he has played alongside with other than Messi he said, “Thierry Henry, Iniesta, Xavi, Torres, Villa, it’s so difficult to say one. I'll go for Thierry henry, when I was there at Arsenal he was there at his very best. He was a beast. He was fantastic, I learned so much from him.”
Fabregas hasn't had one of his better seasons with Chelsea with the Blues currently 10th in the table. They were recently humiliated by Manchester City at home losing 3-0 thanks to a Sergio Aguero hat-trick.
Chelsea were unbeaten in the League after Guus Hiddink took over until the 9th of April. Since then they have lost two games in a row. Hiddink has a done a good job of helping Chelsea to where they are in the table after a nightmare start to their campaign under Jose Mourinho
