Cesc Fabregas praises Kevin De Bruyne ahead of Chelsea v Man City
Saturday 16 April 2016 17:53, UK
Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas says he hardly knew about Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne before this season, and has been surprised by his quality.
This weekend's Saturday Night Football pits last year's champions Chelsea against City, where Fabregas and De Bruyne will go up against each other in midfield.
Chelsea paid £6.7m to Genk for De Bruyne in January 2012, but after only nine appearances in all competitions, and just 132 minutes of Premier League football, he was sold to Wolfsburg in January 2014 before joining City for £55m in 2015.
Despite a recent 12-game absence with a knee injury, only Mesut Ozil and Dimitri Payet have created more chances per 90 minutes than De Bruyne, who has excelled in the Premier League.
Fabregas, speaking ahead of the release of the EA SPORTS FIFA 16 Ultimate Team - Team of the Season, admits he knew little about the Belgium playmaker before this season.
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When asked if he has been impressed with De Bruyne's first season as a City player, Fabregas said: "Yes, mostly because I hardly knew about him before this season.
"I didn't really watch the German league in the few years he was there so yes, he's impressed me because I didn't know that he had that much quality. I think he fits in very well with Manchester City's footballing style."
Another man Chelsea will need to watch closely is Sergio Aguero, who has scored 10 goals in his last 11 Premier League appearances.
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Fabregas is well aware of Aguero's talents and thinks Chelsea will have to employ "smart" tactics to stop him.
He said: "He's a very good player, he's been showing it for a few years now in the Premier League and even before that in Spain and with the national team, so we know what he can do.
"He's very fast, he loves to take on players, he's a natural goalscorer and both the defenders and midfielders will have to be very compact to prevent their midfielders from getting the ball to Sergio. We'll try to control the game as well, to have possession and see if they can have less of the ball and less chances."
Fabregas was speaking ahead of the launch of the EA SPORTS FIFA 16 Ultimate Team - Team of the Season, with the squads being released from April 29th. To read the full interview, head to https://www.easports.com/uk/fifa/news/2016/fifa-16-cesc-fabregas-interview
