Fabregas hits back after Barcelona benchwarmer jibe

Cesc Fabregas has hit back on social media after being accused of swapping Arsenal to become a benchwarmer at Barcelona.

The midfielder, now at Monaco, left Barca for the Gunners as a 16-year-old and quickly established himself as a key first-team player in the Premier League.

The Spain star was even named as club captain at the age of just 21 but chose to return to his boyhood club two years later after winning only one FA Cup during his time in north London.

Fabregas found consistency difficult back at Barca, though, as he competed for midfield spots occupied by Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta and Xavi under head coach Pep Guardiola.

It was put to him by a Twitter user that he traded the Arsenal captaincy to “sit on the bench at Barcelona”, but the player himself offered a pointed response.

I started in 121 games out of the 151 I played… I won 6 tittles, I scored in 2 finals, won a league of 100 points having played 36 games, 43 goals and 47 assists… but yeah, cool. 

— Cesc Fàbregas Soler (@cesc4official) June 11, 2019

“I started in 121 games out of the 151 I played… I won 6 titles, I scored in 2 finals, won a league of 100 points having played 36 games, 43 goals and 47 assists… but yeah, cool,” he wrote.

Fabregas won LaLiga, the Copa del Rey, two Supercopas de Espana, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup with Barca between 2011 and 2014.

The Catalans then sold him to Chelsea after claiming he had a tendency to allow his form to drop in the latter half of seasons.

Fabregas won two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and EFL Cup with the Blues before he left for Monaco in January.