LONDON -- Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insists
he has no regrets over his decision to reject the
option of bringing Cesc Fabregas back to his club
this summer, but he admits it is "strange" to see
him in a blue Chelsea shirt.
- Cross: Additions still needed at Arsenal
Fabregas impressed on his Premier League debut for
Chelsea against Burnley on Monday, leading to
questions about Wenger's decision to turn down the
chance to re-sign him when he left Barcelona.
"I have no regret about that at all. My regret is that
he left us," Wenger said about Fabregas at a news
conference, before he was asked how he felt seeing
his former skipper in Chelsea colours.
"It was strange, but you have to accept that
professional players move from club to club," he
said. "It was difficult for him to leave us, but after
that you accept he can move to some different
clubs. Of course it was a bit strange, but he had a
good game."
Wenger went on to suggest the departure of
Fabregas opened the door for the rise to prominence
of Aaron Ramsey, hinting the potential of the Wales
midfielder could be even greater than that of
Fabregas.
"What is good in life is that someone moves out and
someone else takes over and he has developed,"
Wenger said.
"Ramsey has a different style to Fabregas, but he
has developed into a player with huge potential.
There is more coming out of Ramsey. He is younger
that Cesc and the potential is there to get more out
of him."
Wenger again suggested that his transfer activity in
the final few days of this summer window will be
focused on trying to sign defensive players, with
ESPN FC sources confirming Olympiakos defender
Kosta Manolas is on his wanted list.
"We listen to the names [being linked with Arsenal],"
Wenger said. "Sometimes I look to see who we buy
in the media.
"At this moment, we are in an emergency case. We
have the players we want. We are open to any
opportunity in the transfer window who can
strengthen our defensive department in quality and
number.
"I am open to do it [sign players], but it has to be
linked with the needed quality. I tell you something,
20 top clubs in the world, they look all for the same
positions, so it is not necessarily out there."
He added: "A team doesn't stand still. We move
forward and improve. We have young players and
that means every year they can be better. A team
improves as well with success, which we had
reasonably last year.
"Overall we were quite consistent last year, but we
have a good opportunity to show [against Everton
on Saturday] that we have moved forward again.
"Your job [in the media] is always to imagine a
disaster. My job is to believe in what I do and what
the team does. We made 79 points last year and we
want to make more this year. It is a reasonable
target. I think we have a squad more equipped to do
that and we have made a good start."