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Cesc Fabregas has said that teammate Eden Hazard is Chelsea’s Lionel Messi and admiteed that leaving Spain was a tough decision.
While speaking to Radio Cope ahead of Spain’s Euro qualifier against Slovakia the midfielder said:
“Hazard has that incredible ability to unsettle the opposition. He is the link between midfield and attack for us; he is our Messi because he makes the difference.”
Hazard won and scored a penalty that enabled Chelsea to take alead against London rivals Arsenal on the weekend. Fabregas himself got an assist/
On his team, the 27-year-old said:
“We have a young team but we are very positive about the future.”
The Spaniard revealed that leaving Barcelona was not easy the second time around. He had first left the club for Arsenal as a 16-year-old.
“Leaving the second time was much worse. When you leave as a teenager you don’t even imagine being a first team player.
“I would still repeat the experience because it was a dream to play at the Camp Nou. Even though some people don’t want to accept it I left this time with five trophies.”
Fabregas revealed that incidentally it was the Champions League match against Chelsea where Barcelona got knocked where the problems began.
He said:
“My first seven months were great.
“But after we were knocked out of the Champions League by Chelsea I began to be singled out for criticism. From then on I knew I could be whistled at games. But I coped with it.”
The 2010 World Cup winner revealed that Arsenal had the option to buy him but chose not to since there were a lot of players already in his position.
“It was during the last season that the Chelsea option began to look like the best one for me. Wenger had my position well covered with Ozil, Santi and Wilshere. It was the position he needed least and so I chose Chelsea even though Arsenal had the first option.
'My first meeting with Mourinho was face to face. There was a lot of respect and he convinced me very quickly. We were very honest with each other that everything that had happened [between Barcelona and Real Madrid] was now in the past.
'My mind was made up talking to him. Of the three options I had in England I told him I that I had made my mind up.'
