FORMER Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has announced his immediate retirement from football.
The 36-year-old calls time on a career during which he won the World Cup with Spain, the Premier League twice at 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 posted on Instagram.
He ends his career one year into a two-year contract with Italian club Como in Serie B.
Fabregas says he will now move into the dugout by coaching Como’s reserve and youth teams.
“It’s not all sadness, though, as I’m now going to cross the white line and start coaching the B and Primavera teams of Como 1907,” he added. “A club and a project I couldn’t be more excited about.
“This charming football team won my heart from the first minute and came to me at the perfect time in my career.
“So after 20 incredible years full of sacrifice, dedication and joy, it’s time to say thank you and goodbye to the beautiful game.
“I loved every minute.”
Fabregas joined Barca’s La Masia academy aged 10 in 1997.
Having progressed through the La Liga giants’ youth set-up, he played 212 Premier League matches and won the FA Cup with Arsenal between 2004 and 2011 before moving back to Barcelona.
Following three years at the Nou Camp, he returned to the Premier League in 2014 with Chelsea, where he played just under 200 games.
He made 68 appearances in three and a half years with Monaco but his playing time was limited by injuries, before he moved to Como.
Fabregas won 110 caps for Spain and also won the European Championship twice, in 2008 and 2012, either side of lifting the country’s first World Cup in South Africa.
“From my first days at Barca, Arsenal, Barca again, Chelsea, Monaco and Como, I will treasure them all,” he continued.
“From lifting the World Cup, the Euros, to winning everything in England and Spain and nearly all the European trophies, it has been a journey that I’ll never forget.”