The arrival of Antonio Conte at Chelsea has lifted the mood of the club’s supporters instantly, following a dismal domestic campaign last year.
Summer signings N’Golo Kante and Michy Batshuayi have hit the ground running with a string of impressive displays while old boys Eden Hazard and Diego Costa seem to have rediscovered the spark that made them heroes in Chelsea’s title-winning season under Jose Mourinho.
Football is a game with more variables than constants though and as a result of that, the future of Spanish playmaker Cesc Fabregas is now under the microscope.
The former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder joined Chelsea in 2014 and was instrumental in their league dominance in the first half of the season. His rapport with Diego Costa was well documented and showered with praise by pundits and fans alike. His influence waned in the months leading to the title but that was ultimately rendered irrelevant as he basked in champions’ glory, something he never got to do at Arsenal.
The 2015-16 season saw the worst of Fabregas as Chelsea endured a miserable start to their season. He was sloppy in play and failed to add much value to his side’s attacking endeavours. Moreover, there were rumours he fell out with Jose Mourinho, a story he went to refute later on and was subjected to intense scrutiny by the Stamford Bridge faithful. He made amends for his errors post the turn of the year but ended the campaign worse off than the previous year.
If that wasn’t bad enough for the Spaniard, it appears his place in the team is under major threat with Conte at the helm. The Italian maverick has opted to field the likes of Nemanja Matic and Oscar ahead of Fabregas, with Kante screening the backline. Being a deep-lying playmaker by choice, Fabregas now faces an uphill battle to retain his position in the starting eleven, given the fact that he has made only one appearance for the club in the league so far, a 12-minute cameo against Watford at Vicarage Road.
His predicament in West London sparked a bunch of questions regarding his importance and role for the club. Fabregas was linked with a move to AC Milan in the summer and while he reiterated that it had little substance, he might be left with no option but to seek pastures new as early as January 2017.
As things stand, Fabregas is a Chelsea player and will fight for his place in the team. A lot is predicated on Conte’s philosophy and ideologies though and in the weeks to come, a clearer picture should be made available to the masses about the 29-year-old’s stance. Uncertain times lie ahead for the Spaniard.