Let's talk about Cesc, Baby

"I thought he was going to stay at Barcelona. I was looking at him as the natural successor of players that were getting older, like Xavi. The surprise for me was not that he didn’t go to Arsenal, but that he was leaving Barcelona."

"He’s 27 and it’s the perfect age. Physically, he’s on a high, mentally, he’s very stable, he has tactical education. Cesc’s stats are fantastic, the number of assists, the qualities he brings."

"One of the reasons Cesc is so important is because he can play in any position. Even in Barcelona, he was playing many times as a No.9. He sometimes played on the left wing too."

"Changing clubs is part of the game and people must remember it was Arsenal who didn’t take up the buy-back option for me."

"They told me now Ozil was there, there was no need for me."

"That’s life. No problem. We move on. Life moves on. Football moves on."

"I wanted to keep playing football, enjoying myself and my career and I felt that joining Chelsea was the best option for me. There would have been a reaction wherever I had gone."

"If I had moved to Manchester United they would say, 'He’s gone to a club that have been our big rivals for such a long time.' If it had been Manchester City they would have complained, too."

"Any team I would have gone to, apart from Arsenal, it would have been bad to them."

"Obviously we were always competitive when we played against each other, and we had a little laugh about that. But that's what football is all about – the rivalry."

"But now he is one of us; part of the Chelsea family, and he is playing great. In the short time he has been here, he has made a big impression."

"He has a long contract, and we all hope he can bring great success to Chelsea for years to come."

"We have always wanted to play through the midfield, that has not changed. It was the same when Lamps was here. We want to play attractive football."

"Obviously Cesc is a world class player. To have someone so influential from the Spain squad, along with Diego Costa, has been great."

"You can see the qualities Cesc bring to the pitch – he can find passes that others can't. He keeps the ball really well, and he helps us control games."

"When we are playing out from defence, he can help us keep the ball. He is associated with tiki-taka, but at Chelsea we have always played this way; pass the ball, control games, and give ourselves more options going forward."

"He's certainly added to the squad, and that’s why we are stronger now in the department."

Fabregas on Jose wrote:"People will always see people how they want to see them. When you don't work with him you can only imagine the things he may do. But I always say never judge without knowing. You can have your opinion about someone, but when you see the reality it can be so different. What I really like about him -- and I see it on a daily basis -- is that he is a winner. He loves to win, he loves to train, he loves motivating the players, he doesn't let you breathe when you are training. He always wants you to give your best even in training. It is 'intensity, intensity' from him as we prepare for the games."

"I just love Jose's half-time team talks. Tactically you must do this, you must do that, so you go to the games fully prepared and knowing absolutely what you have to do. This is a very important thing for a player -- that you completely trust your manager. So when you see how he prepares for the game then it happens in the match, it is special. What I also like is what I'm seeing now in his half-time team talks. It's great. What I think we can do better is most of the time what he thinks too. What I feel on the pitch he can feel it too on the sidelines... he reads the game so very, very well."

"I called Zubizarreta and I knew by the response that I got that I was doing them a favour – it was the best thing for them and for me."

"If you play one game, the next, and the next but then comes the big game away to Bayern Munich and we are losing 4-0 and you are not even warming up then it gets you down."

"If Chelsea fans want, the reaction from Arsenal fans, nobody will listen. It depends on Chelsea fans."

"If 40,000 blue fans want, no-one will listen to 3,000 red fans. It depends on the club culture. As you saw with Chelsea fans and Frank Lampard."

"Fabregas was – I don’t say born – but made at Arsenal and the feeling should be good between the fans and him but I don’t know."

"I think he loves Chelsea already. He's so happy - the way he plays, the way he's a member of the squad, the way he lives in this Little Blue Village."

"It is like he's here for a long time. If you ask him now if he regrets the move, I'm sure he'd say no. If you ask him if he would have chosen a different option, he'd say no."

"And if you ask him where he thinks he'll be in five years' time, he'd say he sees himself here in five years' time. He is Chelsea."

"He'll never lose his respect and connection with a club where he arrived as a kid and left as a top player. I wouldn't be happy if he came here saying he didn't care about Arsenal, 'my life at Arsenal is over, I forget everything now it's just about Chelsea.'"

"I don't like that approach. Many times, when they say that, it's not true. If it's true, it's also not good. So I'm completely happy with his approach."

"After Chelsea, I worked for Inter and Real Madrid and I never stopped to say Chelsea were my club and I wanted to come back one day. I gave everything to Inter and Real Madrid."

"Fabregas's approach is correct. He doesn't forget Arsenal, the time he spent there, the contribution it made to his fantastic career. That deserves a place in his memory and his heart. For me, the approach is correct."

"But the fact he's giving everything to Chelsea with such professionalism and enthusiasm is exactly what we want of him."

"Leaving the second time was much worse. When you leave as a teenager you don’t even imagine being a first team player."

"My first seven months were great."

"But after we were knocked out of the Champions League by Chelsea I began to be singled out for criticism. From then on I knew I could be whistled at games. But I coped with it."

"I would still repeat the experience because it was a dream to play at the Camp Nou. Even though some people don’t want to accept it I left this time with five trophies."

"It was during the last season that the Chelsea option began to look like the best one for me. Wenger had my position well covered with Ozil, Santi and Wilshere. It was the position he needed least and so I chose Chelsea even though Arsenal had the first option."

"My first meeting with Mourinho was face to face. There was a lot of respect and he convinced me very quickly. We were very honest with each other that everything that had happened [between Barcelona and Real Madrid] was now in the past."

"My mind was made up talking to him. Of the three options I had in England I told him I that I had made my mind up."