10 players Arsenal regret selling

#8 Cesc Fabregas

Cesc Fabregas

It is not for all teenagers that Arsene Wenger would cut down his vacation time to ensure personally that the deal goes through. For Fabregas, one would say it was all worth it. To address the void in creativity left behind after the exit of Bergkamp, Pires, and Ljunberg, the club needed new blood and to that respect, Fabregas was the building block.

His vision, technical ability, and leadership glued Arsenal’s young squad together. Notably, in the five years leading up to 2011, Fàbregas created 466 goal-scoring chances, made 86 assists and scored 48 goals.

Just about hitting his best years, he was sold to Barcelona for a fee close to €33 million. Three years on, Fabregas would return to London, albeit in the blue jersey of Chelsea, for his second stint in the premier league.

Despite cry outs from the fans and a buy-back clause, Arsenal chose to let him pass only to see him win two league titles in three years with their London rivals.