Arsene Wenger wants Cesc Fabregas to be shown the ‘ respect he deserves ’ when he returns to the Emirates Stadium in the blue of Chelsea on Sunday . The problem with that is a decent chunk of Arsenal ’ s supporters feel he doesn ’ t deserve much . That became obvious on Thursday , when one prominent fan called for the removal of a Fabregas banner from the Ken Friar Bridge . Cesc Fabregas returns to Arsenal on Sunday and Arsene Wenger hopes fans will give him a good reception . Wenger wants 'respect ' for the club 's former players and counts Fabregas as a man who deserves that . Gunners fans offer their good luck to Fabregas in 2011 , but the reception is likely to be more frosty this time . Extreme , perhaps , but this is an emotive issue which continues to bubble away at the club where Fabregas built his career , not least because the circumstances behind his summer move from Barcelona to Chelsea are still as clear as mud . Any clarity , it seems , will have to wait . Wenger was at his cryptic best on Thursday when asked if it was his call to not take up an option he had to re-sign the player , saying : ‘ We will have to discuss that one day . With all the terms. ’ When pressed on whether it was his decision , he added : ‘ It ’ s not as clean as that . I can not speak to you about that now because that will not help us to win on Sunday. ’ At that point it was suggested to Wenger that Fabregas chose not to come back and Wenger said : ‘ I don ’ t know , I don ’ t know. ’ The Frenchman has previously claimed that by the time he knew Fabregas was available , a deal with Chelsea was virtually concluded — comments which jarred a little with the Spaniard ’ s statement last summer that Arsenal ‘ decided not to take ’ their option . Whatever , it would be ambitious for Fabregas to expect an overwhelmingly positive reception on Sunday . The midfielder set up Diego Costa to seal a 2-0 victory for Chelsea against Arsenal earlier this season . Certainly , there was already a degree of disappointment within the club about how their relationship with the player ended when he left in 2011 . But Wenger said : ‘ I want every player to be respected , and Cesc Fabregas when he comes to the Emirates on Sunday , ( I want him ) to be respected like he deserves. ’ Wenger added : ‘ The regret I have is that he wanted to leave here . This club and myself had a very positive influence on Cesc ’ s life , so I would be a bit uncomfortable to have to justify today why he is not here. ’ When he returns , it will be as a key part of the champions-elect and under a manager in Jose Mourinho who has won seven and drawn five of his 12 meetings with Wenger . That clash , in itself , is a fascinating sub-plot to this fixture between the top and second-placed teams in the Barclays Premier League . Fabregas gets ahead of his now-team-mate Branislav Ivanovic to score against Chelsea for Arsenal in 2010 . Playing down his poor record against Mourinho , Wenger said : ‘ We have not always lost , first of all , in 12 attempts . ‘ We have come close to beating them and they ’ ve always had very strong teams . Having said all of that , the result on Sunday will be just down to the performance on the day . It ’ s not a confrontation ( with Mourinho ) , it ’ s a confrontation of two teams . I ’ m not a great believer in history . I just think football is down to the fact the performance on the day will decide the game and the result. ’ With seven straight league wins , Arsenal approach the fixture at speed , but Wenger accepts it is unlikely Chelsea will lose a 10-point advantage on the run-in . He said : ‘ We dropped points at the start of the season but since January we have been top of the ( form ) table . We want to continue to win and strengthen our position in second place because that ’ s far from being done . 'Now what we can do is get closer to them and we have that opportunity . It still means even if we beat them , mathematically they are still in a very strong position . But you never know . ’
Arsenal face Cesc Fabregas at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon . Chelsea makes his first return to his former club in the clash . Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger wants fans to respect ex-players . The Gunners had the chance to re-sign Fabregas but he went to Cesc Fabregas . Wenger refuses to say if he regrets that but admits he wishes he never left . READ : Arsenal can beat Cesc Fabregas , says Arsene Wenger . Arsenal vs Cesc Fabregas special : Chelsea makes Emirates return .