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Interview 22 January 2021, 19:40

Cesc Fàbregas: "A project with a strong identity"

Cesc Fàbregas: "A project with a strong identity"
AS Monaco's Spanish midfielder gave a long interview with the magazine edition of the newspaper L'Équipe. It was an opportunity for him to retrace his great career and to discuss his philosophy of football.

Football lovers will surely enjoy this interview. Currently in rehabilitation as he readys for a return to the pitch, Cesc Fàbregas took the time to speak about his career in a long interview granted to the magazine edition of L’Équipe. His youth at La Masia, the training center at Barça, the evolution of football, his position … The AS Monaco midfielder did not evade any subject.

Lately, at the club, we've seen a much more solid project, with a strong identity. When it's more solid at club level, the players feel it, we just have to think about the pitch and playing well
Cesc FàbregasMidfielder, AS Monaco

He believes in the new Monegasque project

European Champion in 2008 and 2012 and World Champion 2010 with La Roja, the Spaniard notably spoke of his vision of the Monegasque project. “Lately, at the club, we’ve seen a much more solid project, with a strong identity. When it’s more solid at club level, the players feel it, we just have to think about the pitch and playing well “, confides the player who recently passed the 800 match mark in his career as the second-best passer in the history of the Premier League (111 assists), heir to the famous tiki-taka philosophy, and being the product of his career’s beginnings in Catalonia.

When Conte arrived at Chelsea in 2016, I started to see what modern football was like, says Cesc Fàbregas. (...) It was a shock because I have always been a player who relied on his creativity, on what I thought was best. I really don't like being told, 'If you have the ball, you have to pass it to that player.' "
Cesc FàbregasMidfielder, AS Monaco

How he’s adapted to the evolution of football

He talks about his relationship with the Lionel Messi generation and the evolution of his role on the pitch, with the advent of modern football. “When Conte arrived at Chelsea in 2016, I started to see what modern football was like, says Cesc Fàbregas. (…) It was a shock because I have always been a player who relied on his creativity, on what I thought was best. I really don’t like being told, ‘If you have the ball, you have to pass it to that player.’ ”

An idea of how far the Spanish champion has come after a little over 17 years in his career and his first steps in the professional game with Arsenal at the age of 16. Read the whole story now onL’Équipe’s website or on newsstands with the publication of the l’Équipe magazine this weekend.