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Cesc Fabregas at WAR with Senegal over AFCON
Tom Weber
- Updated: 16 Dec 2025 18:17 GMT
- 4 min read
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Como boss Cesc Fabregas has become persona non grata in Senegal after Assane Diao suffered an injury on Monday.
The Arsenal and Chelsea icon is learning the hard way that club versus country debates can get quite heated. Fabregas' social media accounts have been flooded with abusive messages from Senegal supporters after he opted to play Assane Diao against AS Roma on Monday.
Como would lose the game 1-0, but even more worrying was the fact that star forward Diao suffered an injury on the day he was originally supposed to meet up with the rest of Senegal's squad ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Current ETV
Assane Diao
F (L), M (RL)
Como
Assane Diao
F (L), M (RL)
Como
ETV Range
€26.6M - €32.5M
The 20-year-old's participation in the tournament in Morocco is now in doubt, with Senegal slated to play their first match against Botswana on 23 December. Naturally, fans of the Lions of Teranga are fuming.
However, Fabregas himself has been angry with the situation for more than a month, illustrating this dispute with Senegal is not an issue that has only now cropped up.
Fabregas versus Senegal
Diao has only been able to make six appearances for Como this season. In late October, he returned from a months-long foot injury and was immediately called up by Senegal for the November international break.
Fabregas insisted that the youngster wasn't fully fit, but he was called up anyway. After a couple of training sessions, Diao suffered an injury that forced him to return to Como and saw him miss two games.
The Spanish coach has been vehemently opposed to Diao's inclusion in Senegal's AFCON squad, describing it as "illogical" in late November, given that the player has simply not had a chance to get properly fit.
Speaking after the Roma game, Fabregas revealed that he had an "unpleasant" conversation with Senegal boss Pape Thiaw, who allegedly said that Diao would not be allowed to go to the World Cup if Como were to block his AFCON inclusion.
"I’m a big fan of the national teams, and I hope everyone gets a chance to play," Fabregas began. "I asked him not to be included in the squad because he’s only played [a few] matches in eight months.
"The national team coach’s response? If he doesn’t play, he won’t go to the World Cup. It was unpleasant. If a 20-year-old player is playing with fear when he has a bright future ahead of him, it’s a mistake.
"He probably shouldn’t have played today either, but I selected him because he’s leaving tomorrow and I won’t have him for five weeks, so since we’re paying his salary, we might as well let him play a little for us."
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