Cesc Fabregas leaves in tears as he says goodbye to Chelsea

Cesc Fabregas bid farewell after 501 appearances in English football when he was substituted in the closing minutes of Chelsea’s victory against Nottingham Forest.

Fabregas was captain and missed a first-half penalty but his team ran out as comfortable 2-0 winners thanks to two goals from Alvaro Morata.

The 31-year-old Spain international left the pitch in tears as he was replaced by N’Golo Kante, milked the applause and embraced manager Maurizio Sarri.

Fabregas has appeared in 198 games for Chelsea in all competitions and scored 22 goals since signing from Barcelona in 2014.

The next stop for the former Arsenal midfielder is expected to be Monaco.

‘Time flies,’ said Fabregas. ‘It feels like last week that I started playing professionally and now it’s more than 15 years. It goes so fast and you have to be ready every three days, for the criticism with everyone saying how good you are and the ups and downs.

‘It feels like growing older it never goes away it is technique. Physicality goes away. Technicality stays with you.’

On his penalty miss, he added: ‘I saw the ‘keeper going down in the middle of the run and I thought I had it. It was unfortunate. The day I got 100 caps for Spain I also missed a penalty, so it was destiny.’

Teammate Ross Barkley said: ‘Playing with him has been a pleasure,’ said Ross Barkley. ‘He is going to go down as one of the best midfielders ever.’

Dailymail