He hasn’t always been the main man this season as far as Antonio Conte is concerned, but Cesc Fabregas always seems to draw the appreciation of the fans for his classy displays for Chelsea.
His future has of course been the subject of intense speculation after it soon became clear that he wasn’t an automatic pick in the brave new world of Conte at Stamford Bridge.
But the celebrated 29-year-old has reacted to his exclusions in a positive way and got his head down for the hard yards of forcing his way into the Chelsea team.
He’s played some crucial minutes of late and looks back to his best.
And Chelsea fans will be pleased to hear that he seems pretty happy with how things are going, despite those transfers links.
He is quoted as saying that he feels he is now understanding the new style of Conte at Chelsea:
“People forget it’s only the second time in my life, in my whole career, I’ve played this system,” Fabregas told the club’s website.
“My team-mates have played a lot more than me. Against Manchester City [in early December], it was a big test because it was the first game. I’m getting used to it, I feel very comfortable.
Capped 105 times for Spain, with 15 goals scored, Fabregas has played 78 league games for Chelsea since his move in 2014 and hit the net 9 times.
He’s a classy operator but many feared that he didn’t have the engine for this style of team. But he seems to be knuckling down and getting on with the job in hand.
“I know what I can do but the problem is I haven’t had minutes, and if you don’t play you can’t show what you can do.
“In football nowadays, people forget very quickly who you are, what you’ve done and what you can do. Hopefully now I can have a run of games to keep my fitness up and show what I can do.
Chelsea fans: is now the time to cash in on Fab or can he have a big say in the title charge?