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Fabregas was a target for David Moyes – Dutch boss Van Gaal’s predecessor – and United failed to prise him away from Barcelona a year ago.

But when Fab became available at Barcelona, Van Gaal made it clear to United chief executive Ed Woodward that he did not want him.

Dutch boss Van Gaal believes United already have a similar player to Fabregas in his Spainteam-mate Juan Mata.

That left the field clear for Chelsea to bring back the midﬁ elder, 27, to the Premier League.

His former club Arsenal had already told the Fabregas camp that they would not be taking up the ﬁ rst option they had to re-sign him if he was leaving the Nou Camp.

Manchester City were also eyeing Fabregas’ situation in case they lost goal-scoring midfielder Yaya Toure but that has not materialised so The Etihad club were not going to get involved in a £27million battle with Chelsea.

City are more interested in Roma’s left-sided central defender Mehdi Benatia.

And they are prepared to pay £22m for the Moroccan, 27, and significantly Roma have a agreed a cut-price £3m deal for another centre-back – Lille’s Marko Basa, 31.

That could clear the way for Benatia to move to City.

Meanwhile, new Chelsea signing Fabregas has been targeted by sick Arsenal fans in a tirade of vile abuse on Twitter.

Twisted supporters have inundated the Spain ace with foul-mouthed tweets after he signed for the Stamford Bridge outﬁt from Barcelona.

Former Gunners idol Fabregas infuriated many Arsenal followers by penning a five-year deal with their London rivals following long-serving manager Arsene Wenger’s decision to reject the midfielder.

Hate-filled trolls even went as far as to tell Fabregas they hope he breaks his leg during World Cup duty for the Spaniards in Brazil this summer.

Typical of the abusive tweets was one from Kevin Thomas, who wrote: “Hi Cesc. I hope you break both of your legs you lying turncoat ****!”

But other fans rallied against Wenger for not bringing the former Nou Camp playmaker back to Arsenal.

Despite the off-the-pitch issues facing Fabregas, Stamford Bridge boss Jose Mourinho can get him back to his brilliant, buccaneering best in a Chelsea shirt.

That is the verdict of former Barcelona ace Ronald de Boer, who is backing the Spain midfielder to be a huge hit at Chelsea following his switch.

Ex-Holland star De Boer, 44, who also won the Champions League with Ajax in 1995, said: “He didn’t really find his form and his freedom at Barcelona.

“If you saw him play at Arsenal, he was a player you felt was really happy on the pitch.

“With Barcelona he couldn’t really find his way. That can happen.

“In a team you have 11 players and sometimes the magic is not there for some players.

“With the change he can get his brilliance back.”

And he added: “For me, he is an outstanding player and the Premier League should be happy that he is back.”