Mourinho is like my friend but I have no relationship with Guardiola, says Cesc Fabregas

AS Monaco midfielder Cesc Fabregas has had the unique privilege of playing under some of the greatest coaches in European football including Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola. While reflecting on his playing time at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho and Barcelona under Pep Guardiola, Fabregas highlighted the differences between the two legendary managers. The World Cup winner admitted that although he still considers Mourinho - currently the head coach at Tottenham - a "friend", he has zero contact with his "childhood hero" and current Man City boss, Pep Guardiola.

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Cesc Fabregas makes a surprising confession about Mourinho and Guardiola

While speaking on Catalunya Radio’s Tot Costa programme, Fabregas, who left Barcelona to join Jose Mourinho's Chelsea in 2014 said: "He (Mourinho) was the person who inspired me most after I left Barcelona. I like to feel valued and esteemed for whichever club I play for and I thought I wasn't feeling that way anymore at Barcelona." 

At the time, Mourinho was set to take charge of Chelsea for the second time in his career, following a controversial three years at Real Madrid. Although Fabregas played for arch-rivals Barcelona, Mourinho wanted the Spaniard to join him at Stamford Bridge and asked the midfielder to forget about their previous rivalry.

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Fabregas, who won a Premier League title and League Cup under Mourinho at Chelsea in his first season, then explained, "He had told me about the project he had and informed me that it's only better to bury the rivalry and move forward. I still keep in touch with Jose and write to him often as a friend. He stimulates you and is a great coach because he can play with the mind."

However, when speaking about his ex-Barcelona boss, Pep Guardiola, Fabregas stated that he has no contact with the Catalan, who was incidentally his idol while growing up. "With Pep, there was nothing. I don't have any contact with him now and there are some things which happened that I wish not to speak about as well. As my coach, I still think I learnt a lot from Pep because he is an excellent tactician."

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Fabregas won the LaLiga title with Barcelona, as well as the Copa del Rey, two Spanish Super Cups, the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup during his three years at the Camp Nou. With Chelsea, he won two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup before moving to AS Monaco in 2019. 

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Image Credits - Cesc Fabregas Instagram, AP