Former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder, Cesc Fabregas, has opened up on his relationship with two former managers he worked under.
After breaking through under Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, Fabregas returned to Barcelona in 2011 with Pep Guardiola.
He would then go on to win La Liga under the late Tito Villanova before coming back to the Premier League and enjoying successes under Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Guus Hiddink.
And speaking on Catalunya Radio’s Tot Costa programme, the 33-year-old has admitted that in hindsight, his second spell at the Nou Camp was better than he originally thought.
“I was a little out of tune with the club at the end,” he said about Barcelona. “I started the first year very well and then I think I had a very good year in the second, with Tito.
“But football has no memory. My feelings are that that period with Barca, seen from my perspective now, was much better than it seemed when I left the club.”
Fabregas pushed for a move to Chelsea, where under Mourinho the Blues won the Premier League title in 2014/15 and has revealed that he still has a close relationship with the Tottenham boss
He added: “I have always liked to be valued and esteemed by the clubs [I play for], and when I saw that I no longer was at Barca, I saw that there were coaches in Europe who valued me more.
“My first season at Chelsea, when we won the double, helped me a lot. He was the one who inspired me the most when I left Barca. He told me that we had [differences] on the field, but that it ended there.
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“He told me about his project and I prioritised the professional. Today I continue to write with him and I consider him a friend. He helped me a lot at the time.”
That’s in contrast to Man City boss Guardiola, a coach that he describes as his idol, but one that he suggested he now has no personal attachment to.
“With Pep, nothing,” he said. “There are things that happened that I don’t want to talk about.”
“He was my idol in my childhood and perhaps is the person from whom I’ve learned the most – as a player, an idol and a coach. That’s it.”
