It’s looking like Cesc Fabregas may be one game away from the end of his Chelsea career as a January transfer to Monaco looms.
The Evening Standard report that Fabregas is unlikely to feature for the Blues against Southampton in the Premier League on Wednesday night but will almost certainly be included for Saturday’s FA Cup third round tie against Nottingham Forest at Stamford Bridge.
This is because Monaco are dead keen to bring in the 31-year-old Spanish midfielder, who has just five months left on his contract, to help bolster an injury-ravaged squad that has been entrenched in the Ligue 1 relegation zone for months on end.
Coach Thierry Henry is hoping to furnish his team with several new faces (Mamadou Sakho is said to be next on his hit-list) while praying that an influx of players returning from injury over the coming weeks will be enough to breathe new life into Monaco and deliver them from the drop in the latter half of the season.
Having sat out of Chelsea’s previous match (the 1-0 away win over Crystal Palace on Sunday) with a neck injury, the impending game against Forest will signal Fabregas’ 500th and likely final appearance in English club football.
He departs having won two Premier League titles, one FA Cup and one League Cup in the space of four and a half seasons at The Bridge.
Sadly, while obviously still possessing oodles of skill, vision and creative assistance, Cesc doesn’t quite have the legs to cut it as an irreplaceable part of Maurizio Sarri’s all-action midfield.
You have to feel that a move elsewhere upon having reached the aforementioned milestone is the cleanest and most dignified manner in which to part.