Ex-Arsenal, Barcelona star Cesc Fabregas hangs up boots
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Cesc Fabregas with the FA Cup won by Chelsea in 2018, and with World Cup winners Spain in 2010.
PHOTOS: REUTERS, ACTION IMAGES
MADRID – Former Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas announced his retirement from football at the age of 36 on Saturday, revealing his plans to immediately go into coaching.
He won the 2010 World Cup and two European Championships with Spain, two Premier League titles with Chelsea and La Liga with Barcelona.
“It is with great sadness that the time has come for me to hang up my playing boots,” Fabregas wrote on social media. “It has been a journey that I’ll never forget.
“From my first days at Barca, Arsenal, Barca again, Chelsea, Monaco and Como, I will treasure them all.
“I lived experiences that I never thought in a million years I would even come close to.”
Fabregas set up Andres Iniesta to score the only goal of the World Cup final in Johannesburg against the Netherlands and played in 110 internationals.
He began his career in the Barcelona academy before joining Arsenal as a 16-year-old in 2003.
He won the 2005 FA Cup with the Gunners and started the 2-1 loss to Barcelona in the Champions League final the following season.
He returned to Barcelona in 2011 and spent three years at Nou Camp before signing for Chelsea.
Fabregas left for Monaco in 2019 and spent the past season with Como in Italy’s second tier.
He will stay at the club to work with the reserve and youth teams.
“(It’s) a club and project I couldn’t be more excited about,” said Fabregas.
“This charming football team won my heart from the first minute and came to me at the perfect time in my career. I will grab it with both hands.”
His former teammate Iniesta, meanwhile, has given no indication of his next destination after he made an emotional departure from Japanese club Vissel Kobe on Saturday.
The 39-year-old finished his five-year spell in Japan with a 57-minute appearance in a 1-1 draw with Consadole Sapporo.
The game was Iniesta’s first start in the J1 League this season due to a succession of injuries limiting his involvement in the current campaign, as Kobe have launched a rare challenge for the title.
“The last few months have been a really tough period both for me and those close to me,” a teary-eyed Iniesta told a sold-out Misaki Park Stadium, according to Kyodo News.
“I have the desire to retire and close my career while playing on the pitch, and I’m taking my next step in accordance with that emotion.”
Iniesta made over 600 appearances for Barcelona, winning the Champions League four times and claiming nine La Liga titles before joining Kobe in 2018. His 131 caps are the fifth most for Spain. AFP, REUTERS