If you asked Cesc Fabregas to pick a Premier League XI made up only of those he played alongside during title-winning seasons at Arsenal and Chelsea, you’d have one hell of a team at your disposal.
But expand it out to the entirety of the Premier League era, include Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, the Chelsea team of Jose Mourinho’s glorious first spell, and Sir Alex Ferguson‘s perennial trophy-hogging Manchester United, and Fabregas suddenly finds himself being forced to leave out some very big names indeed.
Speaking on the Daily Mail’s It’s All Kicking Off podcast, the former Arsenal captain found space in his XI for only two Man United players.
As ever when it comes to these kinds of hypothetical, opinion-based team selections, there is always room for debate and we would argue until the end of time that no ‘greatest’ Premier League team is complete without, say,Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes or Wayne Rooney.
No room for Rooney, Scholes or Giggs in Fabregas’ XI
Then again, maybe we’re a little biased. This is UnitedinFocus you are reading, after all. Fabregas certainly does not seem immune to the odd hint of bias himself, four former Arsenal team-mates chosen ahead of those who were frequently kept off the Premier League podium by Ferguson’s own lieutenants.
“David Seaman, Ashley Cole, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Kyle Walker,” is Fabregas’ chosen back-four.
“In the midfield, Patrick Vieira, Steven Gerrard, Cristiano Ronaldo then either David Silva or Kevin de Bruyne, not sure which. (And up front) Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba.”
Fabregas, who now works as a coach at the ambitious Serie B outfit Como, spent eight years at Arsenal before leaving for Barcelona in 2011.
His time at the Emirates coincided with a period of domination from Man United and Chelsea, the World Cup winning departing North London without a single top-flight medal to show for his efforts.
Manchester United’s future looks bright with Kobbie Mainoo
Who knows, in 15 years from now, perhaps one of United’s current players will be worthy of discussion when ranking the competition’s truly great players from the very, very good ones.
Fabregas is certainly buying into the Kobbie Mainoo hype, the Carrington graduate still only 18 years of age yet dominating far more experienced midfielders on a regular basis.
“He’s not only the future in my opinion, but he’s the present already”, Fabregas tells the BBC’s Planet Football podcast. “He can make a real difference. He’s got a fantastic personality [it’s] like he’s been playing for a long time.
“To help him in the summer, (Man United) need to recruit players who can gain this quality on the pitch to make him more brilliant than what he is.
“With these talented players, the better quality they get around him, the better they get. So I am expecting a big summer transfer window for Manchester United. But, next season, he needs to be a key player no matter what.”