Why Fabregas is the best Premier League signing of the season

Cesc Fabregas has been a major factor of Chelsea’s sensational start to the League campaign this season

The return of Cesc Fabregas to Premier League was probably the story of the transfer window. The Spaniard returned to Spain to join Barcelona in the summer of 2011. He was Arsenal’s captain when he left the club. Fabregas came through Barcelona’s La Masia and wanted to return to his boyhood club, so it was no surprise.

After three seasons at Barcelona he returned to Premier League to pick up from where he left off. It was once again to London, but he will be wearing the blue of Chelsea.

Here is a look at how his transfer to Chelsea has made the biggest impact so far this season.

Impact on Chelsea’s game

Jose Mourinho has openly admitted that Fabregas is the key to help Chelsea unlock defenses. Mourinho believed that Chelsea couldn’t win the league title last season due to Chelsea’s lack of quality in the final third and believes that Fabregas along with new recruit Diego Costa are the key to solving that issue.

So far the signs have shown that Mourinho is right. The link up play between Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa has been a treat to watch. The duo seems to have a telepathic connection between them.

Fabregas has so far assisted 6 goals and scored 1 goal in six games he has played for Chelsea.

Mourinho had revealed earlier that he plans to use Fabregas in two roles this season. One is the number 8 role and the other is the number 10 role.

In the number 8 role, Fabregas plays a deeper midfield role from where he orchestrates play. This will make use of his ability to dictate the game from midfield. Fabregas will be able to control the tempo of the game to spark a counter attack or to keep hold of the ball and swing the momentum in Chelsea’s way when the opposition is dominating. The Spaniard is not an easy player to knock off the ball either and this is a valuable asset while playing in such a role.

The number 10 role is not a strange one for Fabregas. This was the role that he played at Arsenal and his experience playing in the Premier League meant that he didn’t need time to adjust to new surroundings. Fabregas has an eye for a goal and playing behind the striker in the number 10 role adds to Chelsea’s goal threat.

Chelsea had Juan Mata who was a similar player, but Mata couldn’t play in a 2 man pivot midfield and this is where Fabregas comes into the picture.

Initially, Fabregas worked with Nemanja Matic in a two man pivot at Chelsea. Matic’s towering presence in midfield gave Fabregas time and space to work his way into the opposition box and help his teammates.

During the game against Swansea the two man pivot did not work for Chelsea as Fabregas couldn’t do the dirty work in midfield to run and press the opposition defense. Mourinho switched to a 3 man midfield by bringing in Ramires and the game turned around. Ramires pressed the opposition harder and this once again helped Fabregas do his job of being the link between attack and defense.

The fact that Chelsea have some amazing quality attacking players up front is an advantage for Fabregas, this ensures that his hard work won’t go to waste as he can rely on Costa to take the chances, this may not have been the case if he returned to Arsenal who have strikers like Giroud and Welbeck who have a name for missing good chances.

Chelsea’s captain John Terry has hailed the Spaniard’s impact for the Londonders.

Difference from role at Barcelona

Cesc playing as a deep-lying playmaker for Mourinho’s side

Jose Mourinho said that Barcelona had played Fabregas in the wrong position and he wouldn’t make the same mistake. Even if Mourinho is correct, the Spaniards statistics are still pretty amazing.

Fabregas was often deployed as a false nine in Barcelona, although the Spaniard can do the job well, that is not his best position. Barcelona often used him as a replacement for Xavi in the team. He had the job of keeping the ball and spreading the ball around. This often restricted his killer passes in the final third. Fabregas was also often seen out wide on the wings, where he is not effective as a player like him doesn’t do take-ons to beat a defender nor does he have the pace to prosper there.

The hidden advantage

One big advantage Chelsea got by securing the service of Fabregas went unnoticed by many. The Spaniard counts as a homegrown player according to Premier League rules and this helps Chelsea a lot as their squad is thin on homegrown first team players and there is a limit on the number of non-homegrown players in the squad.