Valencia emerge as front-runners to sign Cesc Fabregas
Cesc Fabregas has barely featured in Maurizio Sarri’s plans at Chelsea, and Valencia could offer him an escape route in January.
The 31-year-old Spaniard has only 3 league appearances so far and has long been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge.
AC Milan, who already have Chelsea’s Tiemoue Bakayoko on their books, were believed to be interested in his signature. However, Sarri himself wants to hold on to Fabregas in spite of his reluctance to play him.
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According to GOL digital, LaLiga strugglers Valencia are prepared to offload academy graduate Ferran Torres in order to make room for the former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder.
Maurizio Sarri’s 4-3-3 formation at Chelsea might be well-suited for Fabregas, but the Italian manager prefers Jorginho and N’golo Kante in midfield, rotating between Mateo Kovacic and Ross Barkley in the third position.
In fact, even Ruben Loftus-Cheek has made more appearances in the league, with Fabregas and Danny Drinkwater being frozen out of the team for large parts of the season so far.
Chelsea is also reportedly interested in signing Barcelona’s Denis Suarez in January, and Sarri is unwilling to loan Loftus-Cheek out for more game time, which will only lead to fewer opportunities for Fabregas.
The La Masia graduate himself is determined to leave London in the winter transfer window, and Chelsea will really not be in a position to stop him if they cannot assure him additional playing time.
In addition, his current deal at Stamford Bridge expires next summer, so he’ll be free to negotiate pre-contract agreements if he is not offered a new one before January 1st.
Valencia, meanwhile, is 14th in La Liga table, having drawn 8 of their 14 matches so far. In spite of having some talented midfield options in Geoffrey Kondogbia, Carlos Soler, and Francis Coquelin among others, Fabregas would be a quality addition to their squad.
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Chelsea travels away to Wolves in a midweek Premier League clash on Wednesday, hoping to cut down Manchester City’s lead at the top of the table.