Cesc Fabregas has recalled the moment Diego Costa ‘shouted’ at Antonio Conte to bring him on during Chelsea’s win over West Brom in 2016.
The Spaniard, who now plays in the French Ligue 1 with Monaco, won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup during his five-year spell at Chelsea.
When Antonio Conte arrived at Stamford Bridge, Fabregas initially struggled to break into the starting lineup under the Italian due to the presence of Nemanja Matic in the middle and a couple of minor injuries.
However, the former Arsenal star proved his worth to Conte after dazzling in an outstanding 3-1 win over Manchester City – which led to a brilliant moment from Costa the following game.
“When Conte first came to Chelsea I didn’t really play the first three months. He made it clear he wanted a different type of midfielder. Nemanja Matic was playing, I had an injury as well and I didn’t really play the whole season,” he told BBC’s Match of the Day top 10 podcast.
“But we went to Manchester City, we had won seven games and Conte says to me: ‘You have to play.’ We won 3-1, I played well and gave the assist to Costa for 1-1. It felt like I had made a point to the coach that he could count on me.
“But next we played West Brom, Matic recovers and he starts. It was a typical game and for 70 minutes it was 0-0. They were defending well. The game was calling for someone like me to come on to open the door or do something but the minutes went by and nothing.
- Pogba drops huge hint over Man Utd future amid Solskjaer contract talk
- Thierry Henry fires back at Jose Mourinho’s Arsenal swipe
“I remember Costa coming to the touchline and shouting at Conte, saying: ‘Put Cesc on!’
“Conte is not the manager you mess with this and he was pretending not to listen to Costa. Two minutes later he says ‘Cesc come’, and two minutes after I come on and I provided the assist for Costa to score.”
Costa and Conte ended up having issues at Chelsea, with the Blues manager notoriously sending a text message to the striker saying he was not part of his plans for the new season.
Fabregas, has played 18 matches for Monaco this campaign in what has been a poor campaign for the club.
