Cesc Fàbregas

Cesc Fàbregas born 4 May 1987 is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea and the Spain national team.

Fàbregas was linked with a move away from London after he was an unused substitution in the 2016–17 Premier League opener against West Ham. On 20 August 2016, Fàbregas once again started on the bench against Watford, entering the match in the second half to replace Nemanja Matić and creating an assist for Diego Costa, who scored the winner in a 2–1 victory. In the post-match press conference, Fàbregas earned the praise of manager, Conte, for his inspiring performance in the comeback win as well as the attitude he shows during training sessions.[100] Fàbregas's first two goals of the season came in an EFL Cup tie against Leicester City on 20 September, both coming within two minutes of each other in extra time to win the game 4–2, the victory moving Chelsea on to the Round of 16.

After a month long absent due to an injury, Fàbregas played a full 90 minute to for Chelsea u23 against Southampton u23 on 21 November 2016. During the match, he provided two assists to fellow first team player, Michy Batshuayi, and helped earn a 3–2 victory.Fàbregas saw his first league action since September in a game against Manchester City on 3 December 2016. Chelsea were trailing 1–0 when Fàbregas picked out Diego Costa with a long ball into the box. Costa brought the ball down and fired it into the net to equalize.[103] Fàbregas came off the bench against West Bromwich Albion on 11 December 2016 and immediately made an impact on the deadlocked match, finding Diego Costa once again with a long ball that led to the winning goal. On 14 December 2016, Fàbregas led Chelsea to their tenth consecutive league victory with his first league goal of the season, scoring in the 40th minute against Sunderland. In his fifth league start of the season, on 31 December 2016, Fàbregas got his 100th league assist in the 4–2 victory over Stoke City.[106] On 25 February 2017, Fàbregas marked his 300th Premier League appearances with a goal and an assist as Chelsea defeated Swansea City 3–1. In the same match, he also reached 102 assists in the Premier League, equalling Frank Lampard as the league's second-highest provider of all time