You can count down the hours now until the January transfer window opens, and one player who will likely be a hot commodity on the open market is Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas. Blues boss Maurizio Sarri is known for not rotating his squad as much as some managers tend to do, and thus the bench players don’t often get a lot of playing time.
Additionally, the midfield at Chelsea is especially stacked, and that means, barring injury, the reserves don’t get a lot of minutes on the pitch. It’s easy to understand why Fabregas wants out, but Sarri hopes that he stays.
“I want him to stay, I don’t know the final decision of Cesc and the club of course,” Sarri told his Friday news conference ahead of the Sunday fixture at Crystal Palace, “but for me it’s very important and if Cesc will go I think that we need to buy another player, and it’s not easy because, technically, Cesc is a very important player. And I think that in the market it’s very difficult to find a player with his characteristics.”
Fabregas, 31, moved to Chelsea from Barcelona in 2014 and has since made 196 appearances with the club. This season however, most of playing time has come in the Europa League and League Cup competitions. He’ll be out of contract at the end of the season, and thus available to move on a free transfer once the winter window opens.
According to Marca, the Spaniard is headed to a European club that has yet to be revealed.
Chelsea FC at Crystal Palace FYIs
Kick-off: 4:30 pm (BST), 11:30 am (EST) Sunday December 30, Selhurst Park
Google Result Probability: Chelsea win- 56%, Draw 25%, Crystal Palace win- 19%
Odds via Bet 365: Chelsea win 8/11, draw 3/1, Crystal Palace 4/1
Injury report and Chelsea starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Prediction: Chelsea 2, Crystal Palace 1
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.