Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has reportedly contacted Real Madrid owner Florentino Perez with the intention of discussing a move to the Spanish capital.
The Spaniard was left out of Chelsea’s starting line-up for their opening Premier League game of the season in the 2-1 win over West Ham United on Monday night.
With Antonio Conte favouring N’Golo Kante in front of the defence and a four-man midfield of Eden Hazard, Nemanja Matic, Oscar and Willian ahead of him, Fabregas was left on the bench.
Despite the Italian tactician moving to insist that the former Arsenal and Barcelona star has a future at Stamford Bridge, it doesn’t appear to have convinced Fabregas.
According to Sport, he doesn’t think he’ll be part of the new manager’s plans and in turn will look to secure a move elsewhere before the deadline later this month instead of sitting on the bench moving forward and has made a move to attract Real’s attention.
The 29-year-old joined Chelsea in 2014 and was a key figure in their run to the title in his first season in west London.
However, as with many of his teammates in the second year, they struggled to replicate that level of performance and finished a disappointing 10th which saw Jose Mourinho sacked in mid-season and Conte brought in to rebuild.
Whether or not Real are keen on the transfer remains to be seen, as essentially their summer has been focused on moving players out first with the likes of James Rodriguez and Isco fighting for places behind the first-choice attacking trident.
Fabregas would arguably have a difficult time forcing his way into the team at the Bernabeu too with Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Casemiro and others being deployed in midfield which raises questions about the sense of looking to move to Madrid.
In turn, if he is to push through a move away from Chelsea this month, then he may well have to consider other destinations.