Cesc Fabregas has named Alexander Hleb as the most underappreciated player he ever played with.
The duo were teammates at Arsenal between 2005 and 2008 when Hleb left Arsenal for Barcelona.
The Belarusian’s move to Catalonia proved unsuccessful and he would later have a journeyman career among smaller clubs around Europe.
However, Fabregas was asked in a Q&A session on Twitter who he thought was underappreciated among the players he has played with and replied:
“Alexander Hleb”
Just Arsenal Opinion
The career of Hleb shows how a footballer’s future is just one bad move away from ruin.
He was a star player at Arsenal, but he couldn’t resist the lure of playing for Barca.
However, that move proved to be a wrong one with injuries and poor form ravaging his time with the Catalans.
He would certainly regret leaving Arsenal because the best times of his career were spent at the Emirates.
Hopefully, some of our players would learn from his mistakes that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
Loyalty pays in football and players who have shown it return to heroes’ welcome whenever they are back at their old stomping ground.
But some will argue that it doesn’t matter because they are paid to play the game and have to make moves they think will benefit them.