Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said that he believes Cesc Fabregas agreed to make a move to Chelsea in early 2014, a long time before he was informed about the midfielder intending to leave the Nou Camp last summer, as reported by the Daily Express.
Aside from this, Wenger stated that he did not want to sign Fabregas this summer, given the abundance of creative midfielders already available to him in his squad.
The likes of Mesut Ozil, Tomas Rosicky and Santi Cazorla would all have provided stern competition to Fabregas, with attacking midfielders often forced to play wide in order to fit into Wenger’s side.
READ: CHELSEA VS. ARSENAL PREVIEW – WILL FABREGAS HURT HIS FORMER CLUB?
Fabregas himself has previously said that he only decided to make the £33 million switch to Chelsea this summer after being told that Arsenal were not going to take up their option to buy him, but Wenger is of the belief that the Spain international had already agreed to join Chelsea by that point.
He said: “I personally believe that deal was done a long time ago, early 2014.
“Why? My instinct. I believe his decision was already made.
“Certainly yes. I don’t want to make a big story of that because you have to accept that once he moved away from us, it’s the first separation that was difficult for us. After you have to accept that. When he went to Barcelona he could’ve gone anywhere else after.
“When he left we bought Ozil to buy an offensive player. We have Cazorla, we have Wilshere, we have Ramsey, we have Oxlade-Chamberlain, who are all offensive players. We were not in the need to buy offensive players. It makes sense if you just look at the balance of the team. I think that’s a decision that is easy to understand.
“We were in search of more up front and more defensive opportunities than creative midfielders. We have many. I think Fabregas will have a great career because he’s a great player. When he looks back at his career he will find that Arsenal and myself had a very positive impact on his career.
“Nobody can dispute that.
“After that, I hope that, for every single person in the world, they have the feeling that we had a positive influence and that he had a great career. That is all you can do. I have no personal animosity against Fabregas. I wish him well. He’s a great player and a person and player I love. Once he left us, he left us. We are all professionals and we have to accept that.
“I think everybody has the freedom to go where they want. We have to respect their decisions.
“As long as we are not in contention we cannot stop people going where they want.”
