AC Milan ready to make fresh move to sign Cesc Fabregas from Chelsea

AC Milan will make a further attempt to sign Cesc Fabregas despite the midfielder insisting he wants to stay at Chelsea.

Milan tried to acquire the Spain international on loan last summer, and now want to buy him at the season’s end.

As Standard Sport revealed in October, club officials used a trip to London to make an enquiry for the 29-year-old.

AC Milan have new wealthy Chinese owners and Fabregas’s impressive form, despite limited game time, has made them even more determined to bring the playmaker to the San Siro.

Fabregas has two years left on his contract but faces an uncertain future at Stamford Bridge, despite his commitment to the cause.

Chelsea are looking to buy at least one midfielder in the close season, with Franck Kessie, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Bernardo Silva just three of the names on their wanted list. Fabregas has started just six times in the League this term — scoring against Swansea in the latest of those on Saturday — with Antonio Conte preferring the more defensively solid Nemanja Matic to line up alongside N’Golo Kante.

Fabregas is not interested in a move to China or the MLS at this stage of his career and still believes he can compete at the highest level.

While he made it clear that he wants to stay at Chelsea, he conceded the decision may be out of his hands.

He said: “For sure it’s Chelsea I’m thinking about. Until the day Chelsea tell me ‘we don’t need you, we don’t want you anymore’.

“When you have been at the top, Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea, Spain, being so successful, I don’t know [where’s next]. I don’t want to plan things. When I feel like I cannot be in a top club anymore, then maybe it’s the right time to go. For now, it’s all about Chelsea and performing here. I know I have played a long time, but I’m still only 29.”

Fabregas is settled in London with his wife and daughter, but the news that he is not yet ready for the Far East or America will give AC Milan hope.

Fabregas joined the Blues from Barcelona for £30m in 2014 and his assist in the 3-1 win against Swansea on Saturday was his 102nd in the Premier League —only Ryan Giggs (162) has more.

Diego Costa believes Fabregas is still one of the best creative players in world football. The striker has scored from many of the former Arsenal captain’s passes since joining the Blues three years ago and said: “Cesc is the only player capable of playing ‘that’ pass; there is no-one else in the team that can do it.

"But not just in our team, there are perhaps one or two at the most with an eye for that pass, he just sees it.

“I know his game, he knows mine. I start my run and I don’t need to look at him. I know if there is space in front, he will put it where I want it. It’s team-work. If you see he has the ball, you just start running.

“You know that with his ability, he can thread the ball through to you. He is one of the best.”