Cesc Fabregas names his four favourite teammates including Barcelona & Arsenal legends
Cesc Fabregas was recently asked to name his four favourite teammates from his illustrious career, but he wasn’t allowed to say Lionel Messi.
Having played for the likes of Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea and Monaco, Fabregas has been fortunate enough to play with a plethora of world class players over the years.
When speaking on The Rest Is Football Podcast, the Spaniard revealed his four favourite teammates from his career, excluding Messi.
Iker Casillas
While Fabregas never played with Casillas at club level, the pair won three finals together during their time with Spain.
“I am going to go for Iker Casillas for the moments that we shared (with the national team),” Fabregas explained when picking the former Real Madrid shot-stopper.
When it comes to international football, there aren’t many goalkeepers who can hold a candle to Casillas and his immense record for Spain.
Having kept a clean sheet in the 2008 Euro final, 2010 World Cup final and 2012 Euro final, the Spanish shot-stopper truly was on of a kind.
Carles Puyol
Fabregas described Puyol as a ‘warrior’ and having spent three years with him at Barcelona along with countless years in the national team, it’s no surprise that he made the cut.
“I’m going to go for Puyol because he was not the greatest football player but I miss players that love defending and they would go over the line to save a goal and they are proper warriors,” Fabregas said.
“In terms of defending, being a warrior, a proper captain, proper team player, I’ll pick Carles Puyol.”
The former Barcelona captain won 20 trophies throughout his career including three Champions League titles and the World Cup. Trophy cabinets don’t get much more stacked than that.
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Andres Iniesta
While Fabregas has played alongside some of the greatest midfielders of all time, he thinks that Iniesta was the best of the bunch.
Considering he assisted Iniesta’s World Cup winning goal, it’s no surprise that the Barcelona icon got the nod in this list.
“I am going to go with Iniesta,” Fabreas said. “I love Xavi, I love David Silva, Patrick Vieira, Gilberto Silva, I had some great company in there but for me, Iniesta is the most complete.
“Passing the ball however you want and wherever you want, he (Iniesta) will make it always good. He will make it look easy. He’ll be surrounded by seven players and he’ll not feel the pressure. He’ll always find the right solution.
“In the later stages of his career, he improved by scoring goals, he was attacking more the space. I always felt amazing with him.
“He was not the greatest in the final pass but he could see a final pass and individually in terms of dribbling and keeping the ball, I don’t think I’ve seen a better player in midfield than him.”
At club level, Fabregas won five trophies while playing alongside Iniesta and the pair combined for plenty of goals over the years at both club and international level.
Thierry Henry
It’s only right that Fabregas named at least one Arsenal star as one of his favourite teammates. Having spent his formative years playing alongside Henry, these two enjoyed some great moments alongside one another.
“I’m going to go with Thierry Henry,” Fabregas said. “He was so dominant. When he was on his day and even when he was not sometimes, he was unstoppable.
“Some defenders, and big defenders and great defenders, they didn’t really know what to do with him.”
During their time together in North London, Fabregas assisted Henry for seven goals and the pair won two trophies alongside one another.