Fabregas ready for new fight

CESC FABREGAS knows he has a fight on his hands for first-team opportunities at Barcelona but insists he had to leave Arsenal because he had “stagnated”.

The Catalan midfielder returned to Barca this week in a €29 million deal to conclude one of the most protracted transfer sagas in world football. He knows he has his work cut out to get into the Barca first team.

Fabregas said: “The easiest thing would have been to stay at Arsenal,” he said.

“I’m the captain, playing every game. We are always in the Champions League, always fighting for titles.

“For all that, and the tough competition here, perhaps now might be the worst time to return to Barca. It’s going to be really tough to make the starting XI, but I needed a new challenge in my life.

“I thought I’d stagnated a bit, and needed a change of scenery. I needed a special motivation to bring the best out of myself.”