I was prompted to write this piece becaause a good friend drew my attention to the fact that the English Premier league has once again lost a playmaker, especially after the retirement of Paul Scholes and the persistent injuries of Steven Gerrard.
The name Cesc Fabregas is as popular to the common man as other hugely popular sportsmen like Roger Federer, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lewis Hamilton, Sachin Tendulkar etc, Yet he is only 24 years of age.
Born May 4, 1987- cesc as he was called in the FIFA u-17 tournament in Finland(2003),is one of the best midfielders of his generation and indeed the world. He was extremely brilliant in that U-17 world cup as his 5 goals from midfield led him to be named player of the tournament and the competition's joint top scorer alongside Carlos Hidalgo and Manuel Curto.of Columbia and Portugal respectively.
Watching him in that tournament, he struck me as someone who was going to make it big and I was proved right when he signed the dotted lines for Arsenal from Barcelona in September 2003 when he was 16 years old. He was't known at that time but Arsene spotted something in him and was of the opinion that Cesc will be a great player. That was never in doubt when he put in a string of good performances in the League cup (Carling cup) against the likes of Wolverhampton wanderers. he became the youngest player to appear and score for the gooners all in the space of one month when he appeared against Rotterham Utd and scored against Wolves -All these achievements still at the tender age of 16. The best was yet to come.
Fabregas did not get his opportunity to star in the Arsenal first team until the 04-05 season when starting midfielders Edu, Vieira and Gilberto Silva (the invisible wall) had injuries at one period or the other with him replacing them and putting in strings of performances which attracted immeasurable praise from soccer pundits all over Britain and the World of football. He however scooped his first trophy as an Arsenal player at the end of the season (his first full season) when they defeated rivals Manchester United in the F.A cup final on penalties.- The match was the last that Patrick Vieira played as captain and player for Arsenal as he signed for Juventus that summer.
Wenger was disgruntled as another great player bade farewell to the Highury faithful. But he was very optimistic that Cesc will step up and fill the vaccum left by the Talismanic Senegalese born french midfield gem.
The 05-06 season season began with fabregas taking vieira's place in the team and his no 4 shirt a year later. But the captain's armband was passed on to the great Thierry Henry. Fabregas was just the perfect replacement for the departed french man as he put in series of exceptional displays, alongside g.silva in both the premier league and Champions League. The highlight of this season was the quarter-final v Juventus where he came up against his former captain and in all fairness tore him and the entire Juve team apart in a scintillating display--- he scored the first and assisted his new skipper, Henry for the 2nd. The Biancconeri coach at that time, Fabio Capello, (now England manager) was full of encomiums for the Spanish starlet and tipped him to achieve great things. Fabregas , alongside Henry, kolo toure, sol campbell, jens lehmann, robert pires and others propelled Arsenal to the final of the Champions League which they led for long periods of the game, despite being down to 10 men as early as the 18th minute of the match, ( Lehmann was sent off for an infringement on Samuel Eto'o.)and lost it eventually to his boyhood club, Barca by 2 goals to 1. All in all, Cesc made more than 40 apps that season and was instrumental to just about every good thing that happened to Arsenal throughout the course of the season. He was still only 19, but already regarded as one of the best young players in the world,even more highly rated at that time, than his friend and national teammate, Andres Lugan Iniesta.
Despite the painful UCL final loss, Arsenal started the 06-07 season with so much hope, especially because of Fabregass' rising profile. He became the talisman from then on,racking up goals and assists like no man's business and dictating play without much ado. He was allowed to roam freely ahead because of the defensive assurance of the immense gilberto silva who is by far the best Brazilian footballer to play in the premier league till date. Arsenal failed to reach the heights of the previous season though, but still managed to reach the champions league round of 16, but was just edged out by Hiddink's PSV, who were immediately knocked out by Liverpool in the q/finals. The club also reached the league cup final but ultimately lost out to defending EPL champions, Chelsea in a final that was marred by a lot of controversies. Fabregas nonetheless was nominated for the end of season awards, but lost out to Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo in both the PFA young player of the year and players' player of the year. Disappointed as he was, Cesc was still the shinning light of the Arsenal team, even with the presence of Thierry Henry and co.
This time, Real Madrid took notice of his blossoming career and were heavily linked to him, but Wenger was very adamant to lose him and made it clear to those interested that Cesc was going nowhere and he meant every word of it.
The 07-08 season began very well for Arsenal, despite the transfer of The legendary Thierry Henry to Barcelona-a move which was supposed to have happened before the beginning of the 06-07 season, but Wenger pleaded with Henry to stay put for one more season which he duly obliged. Long time Vice Prseident and majority shareholder, David Dein also left the club for pastures new. Arsene was devastated because he had a very close knit relationship with the departing executive. It was even rumoured that Arsene asked David if he should resign his position as manager, but David refused, saying he was very vital to the future of the club, asking him to remain. Amidst all these, Cesc knew that he was now the focal point of the Arsenal team and he pledged his commitment to the London club. He was still only 21, but he had qualities way beyond his age.
Fabregas led the gooners to the summit of the premier League all the way through to March, but they lost the plot and eventually lost the league crown to a Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Manchester United. Although many believe that the career threatening injury Eduardo sustained at St Andrews in February was the beginning of the end for Arsenal. Despite this, the Spanish midfielder was nominated for the end of season awards for the second consecutive season. This time he won the young player of the year award while losing the players player of the year crown to Ronaldo who deservedly retained it. Faregas was also named in the PFA team of the year for the 2nd straight year.
He carried that form to the UEFA-EURO 2008 co-hosted by Switzerland and Austria, although he was restricted to substitute appearances because the first choice midfield trio was-senna, xavi and alonso, he still contributed in no small measure to the triumph of the la furia roja (nickname of the Spanish national team),especially his penalty in the shoot-out against the azzuri (Italy), which qualified Spain for the s/finals
In November 2008, Fabregas was named Arsenal captain, after Wenger stripped William Gallas of the armband following some indiscretion from the french ace and he duly accepted, displaying leadership atributes, but was unfortunate to be sidelined with injury for a long time. he came back in time for the semi final of the champions league which they eventually lost to rivals,Manchester United 4-1 on aggregate.
The 09-10 season began with Fabregas in explosive form, hoping to make up for the lost time of the previous season and making his presence felt in a lot of matches that season. He was very instrumental to Arsenal's run yet again to the UCL champions league quarter finals where they lost out Guardiola's Barcelona 6-2 on agg. He however suffered a leg break in that match and was sidelined for the rest of the season. He came back just in time for the world cup in which Spain were pre-tournament favourites and lived up to the billing by winning a hard fought final, defeating The oranje (Netherlands) by an extra time goal to nothing. The goal was scored by Iniesta, with a sumptuous assist by the one and only Cesc.
The summer of 2010 was filled with the Fabregas to Barca rumours. This suggestion became rife as a result of what his Spanish colleagues did to him during the World cup celebrations. Liverpool's Pepe Reina who also doubles as Spain's 2nd choice goal keeper, and Gerard Pique were among those who tried to force a Barca jersey on the young superstar. Barcelona indeed were interested as Pep was Fabregass' idol since childhood and the player himself has many a time declared his desire to move back to his boyhood club. The Catalan club bid in the region of 35 million pounds, but Arsenal rejected the bid, and Fabregas had to stay with Arsenal, against his wish.
The wranglings of the summer did not stop him from giving his best for Arsenal when he needed to- He still turned in his ever impressive showings during the 10-11 season and was very vital to the team's challenge for all the four trophies. By February, they were still in contention for all four titles but buckled under the pressure later, as they were dumped out of the UCL by Barca for the second successive year, surprisngly lost to Birmingham in the League Cup final, thrown out of the F.A cup by Man Utd, and bowed out in the title race, later placing fourth behind Utd, Chelsea and Man City. It was another sad tale of 'almost there'.
Barcelona reiterated their interest in signing the Arsenal skipper in the summer of 2011. This time, Fabregas was in no mood to be refused his dream move back to the club where it all began for him. He even went as far as offering to pay some part of the money which will enable him secure his transfer from the London giants. Barcelona as usual,came up with a laughable offer of 26 Million pounds which Arsenal immediately rejected, telling them that it is 40 Million Pounds or no deal. Sandro Rossel, the President of the Spanish club came with another deal of 31 million pounds with fell way short of Arsenal's valuation for their captain. As expected, it was immediately rejected by Gazidis and the rest of the Arsenal Board. The Catalans returned with what they called their final bid for Cesc, worth 35 million pounds + add-ons (although this is not certain) and finally Arsenal cracked. The club finally accepted that Fabregas can leave for Barcelona yesterday, Sunday-14th August 2011 and the deal was finalized today ending one of the long running transfer sagas-possibly the longest and most frustrating in recent time.
Fabregas has finally bade farewell to the English Premier League where he spent the better part of eight years providing defence splitting passes, scoring brilliant, eye catching goals and most importantly cementing his status as a true World class player. All in all, he made 303 appearances for ARSENAL scoring 57 goals and made more than 50 assists in all competitions. a Legend already at 24 years of age, he bestrode the premier league like a Colossus. Although, he is not among my favourite players, I admire his wonderful contribution to the EPL and indeed World football. He will be missed by every sincere football fan, devoid of whichever club he or she supports because he was a fantastic midfield ochestrator. we wish him nothing but the very best as he opens a new chapter in Spain
Ohireime P.Eboreime
follow me on twitter @ohiskaka1990
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