Chelsea gains after one of Arsenal’s biggest blunders

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Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has been in excellent form so far this season, but how does he compare with Arsenal’s midfield ?

Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has been so good this season that he has recorded more assists than the whole Arsenal midfield combined.

The Spanish international joined Chelsea from Barcelona in the summer on a five-year contract for a fee reported to be in the region of €33 million.

It was a move which shocked Premier League observers and gradually became more astounding as events of the transfer were subsequently unveiled.

According to a number of reports, which were later confirmed by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, the Gunners turned down the opportunity to re-sign the former La Masia star days before he moved to Stamford Bridge.

Wenger cited the surplus of attackers and the positon of Mesut Ozil in his reasoning, yet Fabregas’s role for the Chelsea played out rather differently, as Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho began to use him as a deep-lying playmaker.

If there were any doubts Wenger made a mistake in June, now it has been all-but confirmed as per Christmas Day Fabregas has more assists to his name than the entire Arsenal midfield combined.

In the table provided by Opta, Chelsea’s midfielder has recorded a total of 12 assists in 16 Premier League starts – 1,417 minutes – this season.

On the other hand, the entire Arsenal midfield – including record signing Mesut Ozil – has recorded just nine in a combined 4,906 minutes of top flight action.

One area where Fabregas has received far more joy than his North London counterparts is from set pieces, assisting six goals in contrast to a meagre one from Wenger’s midfielders.

With Arsenal in desperate need of a new dominant central midfield player, passing up on one of the world’s best deep-lying playmakers surely ranks high as one of Wenger’s biggest Arsenal blunders.