Cesc Fabregas wants to make his 500th English club appearance before leaving Chelsea in the January transfer window.

The Spanish midfielder missed the victory over Crystal Palace with a neck injury, but could return to the squad for Wednesday night’s game against Southampton.

He has made a total 499 appearances for both Chelsea and Arsenal, and one more would see him reach his target ahead of his expected departure.

Having moved to Arsenal as a 16-year-old, Fabregas has spent over 12 years in English football and has been one of the best-ever Premier League players.

He is second only to Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs in the all-time assists chart, despite having spent three years in Spain at Barcelona, and has won every English domestic trophy including two League titles with Chelsea.

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Fabregas only has six months remaining on his Chelsea contract and the Blues are unwilling to offer the 31-year-old more than a 12-month extension.

That has alerted a host of clubs at home and abroad, including AC Milan and Monaco, who want to sign him in January but none of them can pay a transfer fee for Fabregas with his wages having to be factored in as well.

Allowing him to leave on a free transfer six months before his contract expires would save Chelsea almost £10million in wages and bonuses that could go into signing a replacement.

Fabregas has only made one Premier League start for Chelsea this season.

Another of Chelsea’s most successful-ever players, Gary Cahill, has hired a personal trainer to make sure he is in the best-possible shape ahead of a January move.

Cahill wants to leave Stamford Bridge on loan ahead of a permanent departure when his contract expires in the summer.

Premier League strugglers Fulham lead the race to sign Cahill on loan, ahead of West Ham United who showed an interest ahead of the season. Arsenal are keeping an eye on Cahill’s situation, but are only expected to make a move if their defensive crisis gets even worse.

Cahill, who remains Chelsea’s club captain, has not played since the end of November and is determined not to sit in the stands or on the substitutes’ bench for the second half of the season.

Other than continuing to train with the rest of Chelsea’s first-team squad, Cahill is now working with a personal trainer to make sure he is ready to get straight back into action at another club.

Other than Fabregas and Cahill, David Luiz has six months remaining on his contract but the Brazilian will stay until the end of the season before leaving Chelsea for a second time – even though Willian wants him to stay.

“For sure, of course I want him to stay,” said Willian. “We have to see if the club want him.”

Willian’s own contract has 18 months still to run, but Chelsea are yet to open any talks to keep the winger past his current deal.

“I'm fine, I’m fine,” he said. “There is no rush about that. We can talk about that in the future, no problem.”