Chelsea's Premier League Success Vindicates Cesc Fabregas' Arsenal Snub

When Cesc Fabregas arrived at Stamford Bridge last summer, he came with a mission statement.

"I do feel that I have unfinished business in the Premier League, and now is the right time for me to return," he said, per The Independent.

Well, now he doesn't. The two trophies that had often eluded him at Arsenal—the League Cup and Premier League—are now safely tucked away in the cabinet.

If you can't beat them, join them. That's the proverb, and Fabregas can vouch for that more than most after less than 12 months at Stamford Bridge.

It was Chelsea who often stood in his way while an Arsenal player, defeating the Gunners in the 2007 League Cup final and finishing above them in the Premier League for every season Fabregas was in their colours.

It's been among the unlikeliest of marriages, but here we are in May with Chelsea dominant in England once again and Fabregas achieving the things he never thought possible.

Fabregas put his differences aside with Jose Mourinho to realise this dream.

"To play against [Mourinho] is terrible. He just knows how to win," he told Sky Sports.

"Now I am seeing it from the inside. When you go into a game with Mourinho, you know what you have to do, you know how to approach the game."

Clive Mason/Getty Images

Arsenal were the club who gave the Spaniard his career and nurtured his talent to make him a star of the European game. In England, they were his first love, so the affection will always be there between club and player.

Indeed, Fabregas all but admitted he had held out for a return to the Emirates Stadium when he left Barcelona last year, only to be snubbed by Arsene Wenger, who had first refusal on him.

"Everyone knows that Arsenal had the first option to sign me," he said in a statement. "They decided not to take this option and therefore it wasn't meant to be. I wish them well in the future."

Clive Mason/Getty Images

It shouldn't be Fabregas regretting that move didn't happen. What would he have if it did? A shot at second place, an FA Cup final?

History would be repeating itself, only this time we're told it wouldn't be tragedy.

Perhaps there was an air of sarcasm in the way in which the Spaniard referenced Arsenal's future. He may wish them well, but he knows as a Chelsea player those feelings of frustration he felt in the past are less likely to occur.

Returning to his hometown club in 2011 was always going to be a significant move for Fabregas. Barcelona were his team, although behind the romance of it all, the move was fuelled by his desire to enjoy success.

For so long Arsenal had been the nearly club of England, so playing for Barcelona changed that.

Now back in England, he's vindicated in his decision to join Chelsea.

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Mourinho's team may not win every competition every season, but Fabregas knows the club demand success. It's part of the Chelsea fabric in the modern era, and no other English club can match them for trophies won in the past decade.

It's not about top-four finishes, playing the safe game with a spreadsheet. Football by numbers is a lot different in west London. The numbers are about trophies and only trophies.

As Fabregas explains, Mourinho knows how to win. As do Chelsea, and regardless of what has gone in the past, what Fabregas himself may have said about joining another English club, it's all insignificant.

"Chelsea is giving me an opportunity that maybe for one or two years I have been waiting for," Fabregas continued in that Sky Sports interview.

"That doesn’t mean I have to forget about the past; it will stay with me wherever I go. But now Chelsea have given me a great opportunity to enjoy my football again and I’m taking it."

Chelsea are giving him trophies, too.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes