Football
30 July 2010
 |
| Cesc Fabregas |
Arsene pep talk produces a Fab result for Arsenal
By Dave Smith
Arsenal fans have a lot to thank Arsene Wenger for over a decade or more of wonderful entertainment at Highbury and now the Emirates.
Okay, so the trophies have dried up in recent years, but Arsenal's style of play will always be pleasing on the eyes of many.
Wenger has brought so many top quality players to the club, nurtured them and turned into world beaters and Cesc Fabregas will be up there with the best.
Which is why Arsene has talked and worked tirelessly to convince his young skipper that his future, the immediate one at least, remains in North London - not back home in Catalonia.
The Barcelona stories continue to run and run, but Fabregas is still an Arsenal player and that is due, in no small part, to the role played by the Spaniard's surrogate father.
Cesc's love of Barca runs deep, we all know that, but his respect for Wenger possibly runs even deeper. He says: "I'm a Barca fan, I'm a socio, as is my grandfather, my uncle, my cousin... I have felt the colours from a young age, I'm Catalan.
"However, I'm the captain of Arsenal, I'm a 'Gunner', and I have become a player there and matured as a person."
During that time, Fabregas has grown up under the tutelage of Wenger and the Spain midfielder says the Arsenal coach means the world to him.
"He is a second father for me, the most important person in my life after my father. He has behaved really well with me and taken me in like a son. I am part of his family," he said.
"He doesn't want me to leave. And in my last conversation with him in London, it was one of the most difficult moments I have experienced. I ended up very upset.