Chelsea capture of Fabregas a Special signing at the Bridge

While global attention was fixed on Brazil for World Cup finals’ opening, Chelsea, 2/1 second-favourites to win the Premier League next term, saw their signing of Cesc Fabregas for a reported £30m from Barcelona slip silently under the radar.

Arsene Wenger, who had first refusal on bringing the Spain star back to Arsenal, and Barca may yet regret not re-signing and selling Fabregas, 27, respectively, as he could come back to haunt either in domestic or Champions League action.

Jose Mourinho must be grinning from ear to ear. In one fell swoop the Blues boss has replaced Stamford Bridge scoring midfielder Frank Lampard with a proven player in the same position, but is a box-to-box role where Fabregas will operate?

Wherever he is used by ‘the Special One’, the former Gunners captain will push a Chelsea star out of the XI. Might Ramires’ place next to January signing and elegant anchorman Nemanja Matic be under threat?

Linked with joining Real Madrid, might he follow compatriot David Luiz out from the Bridge, despite regularly figuring under Mourinho during the first season of his second spell as Blues boss? Ramires was a mere substitute for his country, as Phil Scolari shut up shop before Brazil ran out 3-1 winners in Sao Paulo. He will not want to be used in similar vein at his club.

If Fabregas’ arrival doesn’t put the nose of Ramires out of joint, then what of another Samba Boys star in Oscar? Equally adept in the number 10 position, the Spaniard scored 15 Premier League goals when used there in his penultimate season at Arsenal.

Might Mourinho even deploy Fabregas in the ‘false number nine’ role favoured by Spain on occasion (he is 7/1 yo be his country’s World Cup top scorer), and more often by former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola? Given the poor showing by the Stamford Bridge strikers this season, it is worth considering.