Cesc Fabregas looks us up and down and smiles, his teeth glistening in the mid-afternoon winter’s sun. In the distance, Lake Como tries to match them. “Life is good,” he tells FFT. There is a contentment to the former Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder’s voice that not even this most picturesque of settings in Lombardy, northern Italy, can fully explain.
“Como is an amazing place and everyone has been so welcoming,” he continues. “We have been on holiday here before as a family and my wife and kids are all very happy. It’s a real positive to come here, believe in the project and enjoy my football once again.”
Now aged 35, Fabregas arrived in the Alpine foothills at the beginning of August. Joining Serie B side Como is about more than winding down to a scenic semi-retirement, however. The Catalan has backed this project – which also features his former Arsenal team-mate Thierry Henry as a director and, somewhat bizarrely, fellow Chelsea legend Dennis Wise as CEO – with a view not only to playing regular football after a difficult spell at Monaco, but to looking ahead.
“Football takes you down many paths, but Como will probably be my last club,” he says. “Look, everyone likes a project and wants to improve. We want to create a strong team, a strong club, to improve every year and win promotion to Serie A. I’m preparing myself to be a coach but, for now, I want to keep playing and enjoying the game while I can.”
