Former Chelsea favourite ruled out of joining Enzo Maresca’s coaching staff
Former Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has been ruled out of rejoining the club as part of incoming manager Enzo Maresca’s staff.
Fabregas only retired from playing last summer, finishing his career with Como in Serie B, and has been cutting his coaching teeth with the little known Italian side ever since.
The 2010 World Cup winner, who played for Chelsea between 2014 and 2019, was given control of Como’s B team and Under-19s upon hanging up his boots but wound up being appointed interim head coach of the first-team in October for seven games.
Fabregas was unable to keep the job due to not having completed all of his coaching qualifications but stayed on as an assistant to Welshman Osian Roberts, who oversaw promotion to Serie A. With Roberts set to move into an ‚upstairs‘ role, Fabregas will fulfil the license criteria this summer and is expected to be named new head coach as Como embark on top flight football.
Despite a teasing visit to Chelsea’s Cobham training ground in mid-May raising questions about his future, that promotion at Como is the reason he won’t be returning to the Blues any time soon.
The Athletic’s Simon Johnson reported Fabregas‘ presence at Cobham a fortnight ago but has since explained the 37-year-old was never in contention to replace Mauricio Pochettino as Chelsea boss because it is too early in his managerial career, nor is he prepared to give up a head coach gig in Serie A in order to take a step backwards and become an assistant again.
„I’m very happy [at Como]. My intention is to be here,“ Fabregas recently told BBC Sport Wales.
Chelsea are believed to have agreed £10m compensation with Leicester to appoint Maresca, who worked under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City in 2022/23. That deal is thought to include assistant manager and ex-Chelsea goalkeeper Willy Caballero, first-team coach Danny Walker, goalkeeping coach Michele de Bernardin, fitness coach Marcos Alvarez and analyst Javier Molina Caballero.