Cesc Fabregas now compares ‘undervalued’ Arsenal hero with 99-goal Barcelona legend
Former Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas played alongside some world-class players across his glittering career, both at the Emirates and beyond.
The Spaniard won the World Cup in an incredible Spain side during his time at Arsenal, then went on to play for Barcelona and Chelsea whilst in his prime.
Across all three clubs, Fabregas played under some top-quality coaches including Arsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola, and featured alongside some of the best players of his generation. However, he reserved special praise for one Arsenal hero who still does not get enough credit to this day.
Despite having Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry and Eden Hazard as his teammates at different points in his career, Fabregas has now hailed former winger Theo Walcott.
Cesc Fabregas hails former Arsenal star Theo Walcott
Speaking on Planet Premier League, Fabregas highlighted how useful it was to play alongside someone with Walcott’s speed, and compared him to Barcelona legend Pedro Rodriguez.
“What I remember, is that sometimes without even looking, if I always had the right posture and I felt that I could play the ball forward with one touch without looking – I know that he is so fast that even if I’m overhitting it a little bit more, I know that he will get there even if the ball is not great, and this is a fantastic thing for a midfielder,” he stated of Walcott.
“When you have a winger or striker with the pace of Theo, with the intelligence of the runs – because I think we can talk about Theo’s career, the goals he scored and everything he did as a young age playing for England – but the timing of his runs for me were second to none.
“I can only compare him to Pedro, Pedrito, the one from Barcelona, I had the same connection with him, and for me, they are both very undervalued in this regard.”
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Arsenal hero Theo Walcott compared to Barcelona legend Pedro Rodriguez
Pedro, like Walcott, was a speedy right-winger who would act as the outlet for his side, and he too, was often undervalued at both club and International level, given the players he was surrounded by.
The Spaniard scored 99 goals in 321 appearances for Barcelona before joining Fabregas at Chelsea, whilst Walcott scored 108 times in 397 games for Arsenal.
Pedro won countless trophies alongside Messi and David Villa, among others, in Barcelona’s attack, and was a different style of player to Spain’s midfield maestros in Fabregas, David Silva and Andres Iniesta.
Walcott was often accused of being limited, but his Arsenal career overall was vastly underrated, and he offered such sheer speed in attack that at his best, there was no stopping him.
