Fabregas leaves Chelsea for Monaco

AS Monaco have confirmed the signing of Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas, who has agreed a contract with the Ligue 1 side until June 2022.

Fabregas, 31, made his final appearance for Chelsea in the 2-0 FA Cup win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday, and Monaco have now confirmed his arrival on the French Riviera, per the club’s official Twitter account.

The Spaniard was largely consigned to the Blues bench following the arrival of manager Maurizio Sarri, who preferred £50 million summer-signing Jorginho. The Italy international followed his former Napoli boss to Stamford Bridge and became a key part of the first XI.

The move to Ligue 1 sees Fabregas link back up with former Arsenalteam-mate Thierry Henry, who took over at the helm of the French club in mid-October.

Monaco are in a fight to avoid relegation to Ligue 2, although Henry has improved the side somewhat since then to win three of their last eight games in all competitions—they also beat Rennes on penalties in the Coupe de la Ligue quarter-final.

Fabregas leaves England for a second time and has made a combined 504 appearances for Chelsea (198) and Arsenal (306). He will now hope to recapture some of his former first-team impact at Monaco.

Only one of his six Premier League appearances under Sarri was as part of the starting XI.