New Chelsea signing Cesc Fabregas will have to wait eight long months before facing a hostile Arsenal crowd on his return to the Emirates Stadium.
He spent eight years at Arsenal and formed a strong emotional bond with the Gunners supporters and enraged them with his decision to move to Stamford Bridge.
The new Premier League fixtures were released this morning and Fabregas will first come up against his old team in early October when Arsene Wenger’s side come to west London.
But he has an agonising wait until April 25 before entering what will surely be a cauldron of hatred when he trots out at the ground he once called home.
Arsenal had first refusal on the midfielder this summer and the diminutive Spaniard claims he was told he was not needed by Wenger due to the presence of Mesut Ozil.
“We talked with Wenger but he said that he would find it difficult to make a place for me on the pitch as Ozil had my position covered,” Fabregas said.
“There were some very good options and I chose between the best two or three,' added the 27-year-old.
“I spoke with Jose Mourinho and he said what I wanted to hear and things went very quickly from there.”
He could make his Chelsea Premier League debut when the Blues kick off the new Premier League season at Burnley on August 16.
See Chelsea’s full Premier League fixture list for 2014-15 here.
