LONDON, April 21 – Chelsea star Cesc Fabregas said Monday he wanted to win the Premier League title as “soon as possible” as he gave an indication of why he’d returned to English football with the Blues rather than Arsenal.
The 27-year-old Spanish international midfielder made more than 300 appearances for Arsenal in eight years with the club before leaving for Barcelona with just a solitary FA Cup-winners medal after a string of near-misses, including a defeat in the 2006 Champions League final.
Arsenal had the option of buying back Fabregas when he left Barcelona but chose not to take it up and he opted to join London rivals Chelsea instead.
The table-topping Blues travel to Fabregas’s former club on Sunday with Chelsea currently 10 points ahead of second-placed Arsenal in the Premier League.
Victory this coming weekend would all but seal a first Chelsea title since 2010 and Fabregas told the club’s website: “We just want to win it (the Premier League). The sooner, the better.”
Fabregas, a World Cup and European Championship winner with Spain and is nearing a century of caps, added: “We want to give satisfaction to the supporters. It’s been five years for them without winning the Premier League title; for me it’s been 27 years so I’d love to win it as soon as possible.”
Last Saturday’s 1-0 win over Manchester United saw Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho deploy Fabregas further forward than normal in a bid to accommodate Kurt Zouma, who man-marked Belgium midfielder Marouane Fellaini.
“If I played there normally I would struggle a bit more to deal with long balls and the physical aspect of the game,” Fabregas added.
“We had to put someone on Fellaini, especially for the long balls, so yes our style changed. I thought Zouma did extremely well.
“I think his future is as a centre-back but he can do the job very well in central midfield when it’s needed. He’s a top, top boy. He wants to learn, he wants to play.
“That’s why Mourinho is who he is and has won what he has won. The plan worked very well.”
