Cesc Fabregas has had the pleasure of playing with some of the greatest players to have graced the game in decades during his spells at Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea in particular.
At the Emirates Stadium, Fabregas played greats such as Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires to name a few.
During his return to Barcelona in 2011, the Spaniard had the chance to train and play with Lionel Messi, David Villa, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets amongst many.
At Chelsea as well, Fabregas played alongside world-class players like Eden Hazard and John Terry.
As a result, the Como boss has played with a wide array of top players.
At Manchester City as well, there are plenty of outstanding players to pick from who could be remembered for years upon years as all-time greats.
Pep Guardiola would perhaps even name some of them right up there with the stalwarts he managed at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Fabregas makes unique claim about Erling Haaland
The likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri, Erling Haaland, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan are some of the many incredible players who could have unforgettable legacies once they retire.
However, Haaland, 24, is potentially the only player out of the aforementioned names who still has a decade left in football.
De Bruyne (33), Bernardo (30) and Gundogan (33) are all in their thirties while Rodri is in his prime at 28.
Cesc Fabregas likened Haaland to Messi in respect of how he used to feet about the latter when he was at Barcelona compared to how he feels the Manchester City players must feel the same way about the Norwegian.
The Spaniard was quizzed about whether he has ever come across a striker like Haaland.
Fabregas claimed that he is yet to see a player that is even similar to the £375,000-a-week man in the past 20 years, both in the Premier League and in European football as a whole.
The pundit said on the Planet Premier League podcast: “Not really. Not as far as I can go, 20, 21 years when I joined the Premier League. I could struggle to think of someone of the level of completeness that he’s got about his game.”
“He’s a fantastic athlete, he’s got a fantastic mentality, he’s fast, he’s strong, he can play. Maybe he’s not the greatest playmaker, maybe he doesn’t get involved like [Karim] Benzema or [Sergio] Aguero-type of players.”
“But he knows exactly what he wants, he’s got fire in his eyes, he’s hungry and like we said, the timing of his runs, quality players behind him and his finishing is superb and he’s so powerful so yeah, I could struggle in my time, in the last 20 years to find a striker of this magnitude.”
Erling Haaland really is one of one
A glimpse at Haaland would perhaps prompt many to compare him to target men of the past.
However, while the two-time Premier League winner looks like a brute on the pitch, he thrives on the counter and running behind defences due to his incredible speed; qualities target men do not tend to have as most of their game is based on playing with their back to goal.
Furthermore, it seems rare that there has been any striker, apart from Zlatan Ibrahimovic who had a similar stature to Haaland but also had the technique and eye for scoring a wide variety of goals.
At the same as well, even Ibrahimovic did not score goals at the rate that the Leeds-born striker has.
Haaland’s natural talent alongside his tremendous goalscoring record, freakish athleticism and dominance of various different leagues by 24 makes him a unique footballer in every sense of the word.
Considering a former player of Cesc Fabregas’ ilk has made such a claim speaks volumes of how special the Manchester City talisman is.
