Cesc Fabregas: Time for the prodigal son to return home

What he’ll do for Arsenal when he‘s back could propel us to a whole new era.

The past few weeks have seen just about each of the ‘big’ English clubs being linked with Cesc Fabregas. Even Dagenham and Redbridge ruled themselves out of the running to sign the Spaniard.

Apparently, Barcelona find him surplus to their requirements of ball-passing midfielders. Luis Enrique is a manager who likes his team to attack with pace and given that he’s incorporated Rafinha and Gerard Deulofeu, Fabregas will probably have to look elsewhere for first-team action.

All this is understandable and this is also probably why Arsene Wenger inserted the first-refusal clause in Fabregas’ release-contract.

Let’s face it, Cesc hasn’t been as effective at Barcelona as he was at Arsenal. Be it the captaincy or his direct-minded approach to attack, he was different. He influenced games more and he often did so with so much flair and genius that he was branded as one of the best midfielders to have ever graced the Premier League.

What baffles me now is why Arsenal are ‘reportedly’ overlooking the chance to re-sign their prodigal son. Yes, we’ve got Mesut Ozil, Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey but none of them, apart from the Welshman, are capable of producing something we’ve lacked entirely since 2011: a directed attack.

Cesc is so good on the ball that some of his passes make you wonder if he is better than players like Xavi or Andres Iniesta; both of whom are known to be amongst the best midfielders in the world. Yet, if they were to play in the Premier League for one season, they might fade out just like Ozil did this year.

The Premier League is a whole different animal, it is faster, more direct and physical, something that Fabregas would’ve brought to Barcelona had he had the right manager.

Think about this scenario, what if, just after Fabregas left Arsenal, Wenger had followed suit and taken over at the Camp Nou? The amount of freedom that Wenger gave Fabregas would almost instantly convert him into a Ballon d’Or contender in the weakened La Liga.

By no means am I lowering Pep Guardiola, the late Tito Vilanova or Gerardo Martino. All I’m saying is if they had given Cesc the kind of freedom that he enjoyed at Arsenal, his future at Barcelona won’t have been up in the air this summer.

What is more interesting now is that Chelsea, the club that houses ‘players’ like John Terry and Ashley Cole, are ‘front-runners’ for Cesc’s signature. I, for one, can’t imagine seeing him in blue, playing in that tiny stadium of theirs and secondly, playing under Jose Mourinho.

The pair have had their share of spats over the years, both in Spain and in England, and yes, maybe money will turn his head but the sight of seeing someone with such attacking prowess play for a manager and a team that almost specializes in boring defensive-football is indescribable.

As much as I want us to sign a world-class striker, I still want to see Cesc Fabregas back at Arsenal. He was meant for this club, he was brought up here with some of the greatest legends in the game and the time has come for him to completely replace them.

We could always do with more attacking options and Fabregas will make sure that he’ll push everyone around him and get out the best in them. He’s a true Gunner and hopefully, his presence will re-assure Arsenal that they do belong at the very top.