The Chelsea maestro has named Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane as his idol. While speaking to English media, Fabregas said that he grew up celebrating the dazzling heroics of the French legend.
‘My first football memory was Zinedine Zidane scoring two goals in the final of the World Cup at France in 1998,’ Fabregas told English media.
He said that winning the 2010 World Cup with Spain was the major influence in his career since it allowed him to follow in the footsteps of the Frenchman.
Fabregas further talked about how he evolved as a kid in Barcelona to Europe’s most lethal midfielder.
“Long before signing for Barcelona, I went for a trial with Albert Benaiges [who ran Barca’s youth teams]. That was the first time I put on the Barcelona shirt in a real game,” Fabregas said to Goal.com.
“There were many things that made me go to Arsenal,” he admits. “I was really happy in Barcelona but I saw how players like Messi and Pique were moved up to the youth ‘A’ team and Rodolfo wasn’t there anymore.”
“They wanted me to move up to the first team within a short time, they believed in me very much but I still couldn’t make out if they were selling me a dream. It was true that Wenger had interrupted his holidays in France to see me and make me the offer in person. That was decisive and we decided to take that route. And everything was phenomenal after that.”
His rise to stardom was meteoric. “It couldn’t have gone better,” he says. “At the age of 16 I was the youngest player in the history of the club to debut, to score in the Premier League and also in the Champions League. That allowed me to reach the level I have been at for the last 12 years and that’s difficult in football today. It’s more physical and the speed is incredible. The only thing you can do is to keep training your body and mind to stay around for as long as possible.”
Cesc Fabgregas playing in the Champions League for Chelsea against Maccabi Tel-Aviv photo credit: Tellementfoot.com
The 28-year-old Chelsea midfielder played an important part for Chelsea yesterday against his former club Arsenal in the London derby which ended 0-1 in favour of the defending champions Chelsea. Fabregas, who showed spectacular form last season which ended with Chelsea crowned the Premier League champions, has failed to replicate the same form this season. In 19 league appearances so far, the Spaniard has only 3 assists and 1 goal to boast of.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said he is “hopeful” Gareth Bale’s latest calf injury is not too serious after the Wales international scored but then limped out of Sunday’s 5-1 La Liga win over Sporting Gijon at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.
Gareth Bale opened the scoring with his 11th goal in his last eight games with a header just seven minutes in and was heavily involved as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema both notched quick doubles as Madrid went 5-0 ahead before the break. The Wales international did not make it to out for the second half, however, as he appeared to suffer another calf muscle problem, while Benzema was also substituted during the second half after suffering a bang on his ankle in an accidental collision with teammate James Rodriguez.
Asked about the injuries at his postgame news conference, the Los Blancos coach said Benzema appeared to be fine but there was concern that the Welsh winger had suffered what would be a fifth calf muscle injury in his two-and-a-half years at Real Madrid.
“Karim is just a bang, thankfully. Gareth’s is a bit more difficult, calf muscle, on the
left, another problem. But we will see the scans tomorrow, and hope it is a small one.” Zidane said
– St.Etienne have completed the signing of Oussama Tannane from Heracles on a four and a half year deal.
– Basel have completed the signing of Renato Steffen from Young Boys.
– Atalanta have signed Alessandro Diamanti from Watford on loan until the end of the season.
– Palermo have completed the signing of Hungarian forward Norbert Balogh from Debrecen.
– Juan Camilo Zuniga has joined Bologna on a six-month loan from Napoli.
Today’s reports and rumours:
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Dortmund and Dante of Munich compete for the ball photo credit ar.fifa.com
– Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has revealed he wants to stay and win trophies at Borussia Dortmund.
– Manchester United are preparing a €40 million summer offer for AC Milan’s 16-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, according to reports in Italy.
– Schalke defender Joel Matip is set to join Liverpool on a free transfer in the summer, according to reports in England.
– West Brom have had their £7.5million bid for Angers’ Cheikh N’Doye rejected, according to reports.
– According to reports in Spain, Barcelona are close to signing Celta Vigo forward Nolito.
– The father of Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez says his son is happy where he is at the moment despite links with Manchester United.
– Bordeaux want to use some of the money they received from the sale of Henri Saivet to Newcastle in order to buy Red Star Belgrade centre back Vukasin Jovanovic.
– Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Veratti’s agent says his client is more likely to join Carlo Ancelotti at Bayern Munich than move to Spain.
– Manchester United are pursuing Valencia midfielder Andre Gomes after their move for Atletico Madrid’s Saul Niguez was blocked, according to reports.
– Wolfsburg sporting director Klaus Allofs says Nicklas Bendtner is still in the club’s plans.
– Paris Saint-Germain are keeping an eye on Partizan Belgrade winger Andrija Zivkovic, according to L’Equipe.
– Bournemouth will attempt to “hijack” West Brom’s £8m move for QPR winger Matt Phillips, according to reports.
Louis Van Gaal
– Austrian centre-back Aleksandar Dragovic is set to become Manchester United’s first signing of the January transfer window, according to reports.
– One of Ezequiel Lavezzi’s agents, Alessandro Moggi is not sure the player will leave PSG in January, but indicated Inter Milan are interested and talks could be held with Chelsea.
– Liverpool are keeping tabs on Sweden international Emil Forsberg ahead of a possible bid this summer, according to
reports.
– Abdul Baba Rahman admits he is frustrated about the lack of first team playing time he has received since moving to Chelsea.
– New Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane wants to bring French midfielder Paul Pogba to Madrid to be his first Galatico signing, according to reports in Spain.
– AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliani confirms the Luiz Adriano will move to China, Stephan El Shaarawy could stay and Gigio Donnarumma offers will be rejected.
– Genoa face competition from Spanish sides Levante and Getafe to loan Fiorentina forward Giuseppe Rossi, according to reports.
– Adriano’s agent confirmed “Roma and Barcelona are discussing a loan deal, but there is nothing completed yet.”
Football tit bits:
– Valencia have reappointed Jesus Garcia Pitarch as sporting director in a bid to help turn around the club’s fortunes.
– Andy Carroll is anxiously awaiting the results of a scan on the hamstring injury he suffered at Bournemouth on Tuesday but the early indication is the West Ham United striker will be out for between four and six weeks.
– FIFA has fined the football associations of Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay for homophobic chants by fans.
– Spain’s national court has ordered Neymar to testify in an investigation into alleged irregularities involving his transfer to Barcelona. The Brazil striker is set to testify on the 2nd of February.
– Chelsea have had their ticket allocation for their Champions League last-16 match with Paris Saint-Germain cut because of the heightened security level in the French capital and the behaviour of their fans last year.
– Roma have parted company with their head coach Rudi Garcia and are expected to appoint Luciano Spalletti as his replacement.
– World football’s governing body FIFA has dismissed suspended secretary general Jerome Valcke with immediate effect.
The Return of the January Transfer window also means Our man Paul is back on the football transfer beat, tracking down the latest stories for you, here are the latest football transfer stories for the 4th of January 2016.
you can follow Paul on twitter @El_Pauletta and also follow @NewFanzone for an instant follow back, lets keep the conversation going.
Done deals:
– Derby County have signed Abdoul Camara from Angers for a fee of £1.25million.
– Leicester City have completed the signing of Demarai Gray from Birmingham City for £3.75million.
– Artem Kravets has joined VfB Stuttgart on a six-month loan deal from Dinamo Kiev.
– Hellas Verona have completed the signing of former AC Milan midfielder Urby Emanuelson on a free transfer.
– Hannover have completed the signing of Adam Szalai from Hoffenheim on a six-month loan deal with an option to buy.
– AC Milan have completed the signing of former Schalke 04 midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng.
– Charlton have confirmed the loan signing of Diego Poyet from West Ham until the end of the season.
– Sampdoria have completed the signing of former Inter Milan midfielder Ricky Alvarez on a free transfer.
– Charlton Athletic have confirmed the signing of Roger Johnson on a 18-month contract.
– Former Liverpool goalkeeper Brad Jones has joined Dutch club NEC Nijmegen on a short-term deal.
– Watford are reportedly interested in former Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor.
– Leicester are to hold talks with Sampdoria over a deal for 18-year-old right-back Pedro Pereira, according to Skysports Italia.
– Chelsea and Manchester United are reportedly keen on signing Locomotiv Moscow striker Oumar Niasse.
– Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke has played down rumours that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is on his way to Arsenal. He said: “He’s under contract until 2020. But those situations are not new for us. It’s just normal that our players attract attention.”
– West Brom are being linked with a move for Angers defender Romain Thomas, according to reports.
– Lazio are close to signing Lyon defender Milan Bisevac, according to L’Equipe.
– RB Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff says attacker Emil Forsberg, who has been linked with Liverpool “is not on sale”
– Bayern Munich fringe player Jan Kirchhoff is set to join Sunderland, according to reports in Germany.
– Schalke are reportedly keen on signing Leicester City midfielder Gokhan Inler.
– Tottenham target Ezequiel Lavezzi would prefer a move back to Italy. According to his agent, Alejandro Mazzoni.
– Manchester City are preparing a €55million bid for Schalke’s attacking midfielder Leroy Sane, according to reports in Germany.
– Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has “put the block” on Sadio Mane and Victor Wanyama being sold this month.
– Boca Juniors President Daniel Angelici confirms Jonathan Calleri’s move to Inter will be finalised “later this week”.
– Crystal Palace are set to offer Jonjo Shelvey a way out of Swansea, according to reports.
– Sevilla President Jose Castro confirms “many offers from Italy” for Ciro Immobile but “we have no plans to let him leave”.
– Norwich City have made a £7m bid for Inter Milan defender Andrea Ranocchia, according to Sky Sports Italy.
– Sampdoria President Massimo Ferrero insists Napoli “don’t want” Roberto Soriano, or they would have signed him in the summer.
– Mark Hughes says talk of a £10m clause in Bojan Krkic’s Stoke City contract is “mischief making, there is no such clause, and he won’t be sold.”
– Norberto Neto is reportedly set to leave Juventus before June, with Lazio’s Federico Marchetti a possible replacement.
– Bournemouth will find out this week whether their loan deal for Roma forward Juan Iturbe will receive international clearance.
– Liverpool are interested in signing Schalke centre-back Joel Matip in the January transfer window, according to Sky Sports sources.
– Marquinhos is flattered by Manchester United’s reported interest, and the defender has suggested he could leave PSG in the summer.
– Derby County are readying a club-record bid to sign Wolves forward Benik Afobe this month.
– Cardiff City have put a £10m asking price on goalkeeper David Marshall following links to Premier League side Everton, according to reports in Wales.
– Ronaldinho’s brother claims the former Barcelona star has had “more than one” offer from England.
– According to reports in France, Nantes are interested in acquiring the services of Newcastle’s winger Gabriel Obertan.
– Rafa Benitez has been sacked as manager of Real Madrid. Zinedine Zidane has been appointed as his successor.
– Guus Hiddink has revealed that John Obi Mikel is the “ideal player” to bring balance to Chelsea’s midfield after
the Nigeria international shone in Sunday’s 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
– According to French media outlet RMC, the judge in the Mathieu Valbuena blackmail sextape case has blocked Real
Madrid striker Karim Benzema request to see Lyon midfielder Valbuena.
– Genoa are set to appoint Sean Sogliano as their new sporting director, after receiving clearance from the Lega Serie A.
– Jamie Vardy is set to undergo minor groin surgery but the Leicester City striker is expected to miss just one match
rather than endure a two-week lay-off that had previously been feared.
– Geoff Cameron is free to face Liverpool in Stoke’s Capital One Cup semi-final first leg on Tuesday after the club were successful in their appeal against the red card the midfielder received in the defeat by West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
Multiple Award winning Tennis Star Continues to win award after award and it undoubtable that they are all well deserved, barely hours after polling the most votes to win the AP Female Athlete Of The Year Award another top media establishment L’Equipe of France has named Serena Williams as “Champion Of Champions” 2015 alongside Jamaican Sprint Legend Usain Bolt.
Voting for the Campeones de Campeones, started in 1980 and it is done by all the Journalist working at L’Equipe, the award as now become one of the most popular Sports awards across the globe.
previous winners include Tennis number one Novak Djokovic, Sergey Bubka, Zinedine Zidane, Andre Agassi, Tiger Woods, Michael Schumacher, just to name a few.
The L’Equipe Champion Of Champions had been dominated by men through the years as Florence Griffith-Joyner was the only woman to have won it in 1988, In 2012 the Champion Of Champions was split into male and female categories.
This will be Serena’s Third Champion Of Champions award while Usain Bolt is winning it for the fourth time.
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