Following the day Cesc Fabregas was unveiled as Chelsea’s new signing three years ago, almost all of his Arsenal ties have been tossed into the trash can.
From the perspective of most fans of the Gunners, he has betrayed the club which nurtured him from a frail teenager into a midfield maestro and therefore any compliments he received – even after leaving for Barcelona – turned into resentment.
But the truth about what actually led to his choice of a Chelsea move has to be understood because unlike Robin van Persie, he did not jump ship to a rival club just to prove a point.
A clause in Fabregas’ deal at Barcelona meant Arsenal were offered a chance to re-sign the midfielder when he was departing the Camp Nou.
However, Wenger waved away the opportunity to bring back the midfielder in 2014, perhaps due to the availability of other options in Mesut Ozil, Jack Wilshire, Santi Cazorla, Mikel Artera and Aaron Ramsey.
Now put yourself in Fabregas’ shoes and decide which direction you would take if your first club of choice was unwilling to reclaim you as you searched for a new destination in the middle of your career.
Meanwhile, Chelsea were in desperate need of a creative force to bring the best out of Diego Costa and so Jose Mourinho did not think twice about pouncing on the chance of an up for grabs Fabregas.
Both Wenger and the Spaniard have subsequently revealed that the move to Stamford Bridge occurred only after Arsenal had passed him on to other suitors.
Three years later, Fabregas is facing a similar treatment of rejection at Chelsea with Antonio Conte making it clear that his services are no longer needed.
The Spaniard, even at 30, is still a serviceable player to have in any team – as he showed during his limited appearances last term – even though certain Arsenal fans are still clinging on to the false notion that he is a ‘snake’ who cannot be taken back.
But with Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey often flirting with injury lay-offs, who are Arsenal to turn down the addition of another powerhouse in midfield, especially with the rigors of the Europa League looming.
Two title triumphs at Chelsea have also added more attributes of a winner to Fabregas’ game and apart from the obvious age factor, he would return to the Emirates stadium as an even better player than the one who left in the summer of 2011.