"The Premier League is the best league in the world. I've always been very, very clear about it." Cesc Fabregas said it plainly to the Daily Telegraph, and nobody who watched his playing career would argue. The question is whether the clubs chasing his signature this summer — Chelsea very likely among them — can turn that admiration into action.
They probably can't. Not yet.
What Fabregas has actually built at Como
Two seasons ago, Como were a Serie B side. Now they're fifth in Serie A with 62 points, three games left, and a genuine shot at overtaking Juventus (65 points, fourth) to reach the Champions League for the first time in the club's history. That is not a feel-good story. That is a managerial performance that belongs in a case study.
Fabregas took over a club with no top-flight experience in over two decades and turned them into a European contender in year two. Year one they finished 12th. Year two they're pushing for the UCL. The trajectory is sharp enough that walking away now would be leaving something genuinely unfinished.
And he knows it. José Mourinho apparently told him during his time at Chelsea: "I still have 30 years to work. So I could be here for 10 years, and you can still go to the Premier League in 12, 15 years." That kind of long-game thinking — from Mourinho, of all people — seems to have stuck.
Chelsea's timing couldn't be worse
Chelsea are currently on their third manager of the season after dismissing Enzo Maresca in January and then parting ways with Liam Rosenior shortly after. They'll be casting a wide net this summer, and Fabregas's history with the club makes him an obvious name on the list. But the irony is that the advice a former Chelsea manager gave him is precisely what's keeping him away.
Anyone pricing up the next Como manager or tracking Europa League outright odds for next season should factor in that Fabregas isn't going anywhere. The project has momentum, the club has belief, and the man in charge has a Mourinho-approved philosophy about patience.
"Football is so unpredictable, it changes in one second," Fabregas said. "Let's enjoy the moment."
Right now, the moment is very good in Lombardy. The Premier League will have to wait.
