Ivan Gazidis is set to use his ‘hotline’ to Chelsea to secure signings for AC Milan, including former Gunner Cesc Fabregas, according to reports in Italy.

Calciomercato report that Gazidis will give the Serie A club an edge in negotiations with Chelsea for the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Gary Cahill and Andreas Christensen. It’s not entirely clear where they’ve got this idea that the ex-Arsenal chief loves doing business with Chelsea, considering he didn’t do much with them whilst in London.

Nonetheless, the links to Fabregas at least make some sense, considering the Spaniard’s connections to Arsenal. Calciomercato write that the midfielder seems ‘really close’ to a Milan move.

It’s not the first report we’ve seen on the potential transfer. Last month, Calciomercato wrote that Milan had spoken to Fabregas’ representatives to explore the situation. They claimed that with the midfielder’s expiring contract, Fabregas is seen as the ‘easier move to pull off’ compared to other targets.

After an injury kept him out for a couple of games in August, Fabregas saw his place in the Chelsea side taken by summer signings Jorginho and Kovacic. Since then, he hasn’t managed to make a single Premier League start, only making substitute appearances late in games on three occasions.

The midfielder is getting more of a chance in the Europa League and League Cup, but that’s unlikely to make him want to extend his contract at Stamford Bridge. It seems pretty clear that unless something changes, Fabregas will be on the way out in one of the next two windows. We’ll just have to wait and see where he goes.