Frank Rijkaard believes that Francesc 'Cesc' Fabregas' departure from Barcelona at a young age was no catastrophe, citing instead the midfielder talent available to him at the Nou Camp...
Cesc left Barcelona's B team at a young age to join Arsenal in England, where he has grown into one of the Premiership's top midfielders.
Many have speculated as to how things would be if he'd stayed at the Nou Camp, but Rijkaard isn't among them.
"I'm glad to see a player from our cantera doing well, but we can't underestimate our own players when they're of the standard of Xavi, Iniesta or Deco," said the Dutch boss.
Rijkaard had only just taken over at the blaugrana when Cesc was headhunted by Arsene Wenger and his men and, since the youngster's breakthrough into the Gunners' first XI, there have been no shortage of rumours about a possible return for the local lad.
Fabregas has previously said that a lack of potential first team opportunity was his main motivating factor for exchanging Catalunya for London.
