“After that, we’ve been best friends.”
Cesc Fabregas had a bit of a temper in his younger years, and he wasn’t afraid to lose it with opposition managers. The Spanish midfielder made his debut age 16 for Arsenal and was a regular in the side the following season, when the “Invincibles” lost their Premier League title to Chelsea
In October 2004, when he was just 17, Fabregas threw a pizza which landed on Sir Alex Ferguson during a tunnel scuffle at Old Trafford, when Manchester United ended Arsenal’s 49-game unbeaten record.
Fabregas would later have a run-in with Mark Hughes, when the former United striker was Blackburn Rovers manager, and guided his team to a goalless draw against Arsenal in the FA Cup.
“I thought the boy showed disrespect to somebody who has won a lot more FA Cups than him,” Hughes said about Fabregas back in 2007.
“He came off the pitch and asked me if I had played for Barcelona and when I said that, ‘Yes I did’, he said something to the effect of ‘that wasn’t Barcelona football, was it?'”
Harry Redknapp was another Premier League manager to get on the wrong side of Fabregas. Back in 2007, Redknapp was Portsmouth manager, and his team recorded a goalless draw against Arsenal, much to the annoyance of Fabregas.
The Chelsea midfielder admits on the latest episode of A League of their Own, due to air this Thursday at 9pm, that he told Redknapp his “team plays like s***” after the game, but Harry didn’t back down.
“Jamie didn’t your dad, is this true, Harry once had a run in with Cesc?” Corden asked Jamie Redknapp.
“Nah… actually yes,” Fabregas responded.
“It was at the end of a game with Portsmouth, and it was a nil-nil. I was young and you know, stupid. I want to win and I just saw him there in the tunnel of the Emirates and I just said, ‘Your team plays like s***’. And he just turns round and says, ‘You are a horrible man’. I just run away. After that, we’ve been best friends. Every time we see each other we hug, we talk.”
“I can remember calling him up and saying ‘Great result Dad’,” said Harry’s son and former Liverpool midfielder Jamie.
“And he was like ‘that Fabregas is horrible. We had a big argument, he started having a go at me!’ But no he loves Cesc he always loves good players, he’s a big fan of Cesc.”
On the Sky 1 show, Fabregas also admits that he did throw the pizza at Ferguson.
#ALOTO EXCLUSIVE!!! @cesc4official comes clean about that moment with Sir Alex. Get more juicy gossip on Thursday at 9pm. #BattleOfTheBuffet pic.twitter.com/yARvejMJWV
— Sky TV (@skytv) October 4, 2017
