Cesc Fabregas

The 31-year-old has not played for Spain since their 2-0 defeat to Italy in the last 16 of Euro 2016, having been frozen out by former national team head coach Julen Lopetegui.

The departure of Lopetegui two days before their World Cup opener came too late for Fabregas to have any involvement in the tournament, which saw La Roja surprisingly knocked out by hosts Russia in the second round under interim boss Fernando Hierro.

Chelsea moved a step closer to title glory thanks to goals from Diego Costa, Marcos Alonso and Nemanja Matic at Stamford Bridge on Monday.

And when Fabregas set up the Serb for the third goal in a comfortable victory, he became the first player to record at least 10 assists in six different Premier League seasons.

The Spain international began the campaign out of the Chelsea first team and Fabregas acknowledged it was hard to get used to not being an integral part of Antonio Conte's plans.

The Spaniard has been at the centre of transfer talk, having played just 32 minutes in the Premier League under Antonio Conte this season.

Fabregas was given a chance in the EFL Cup on Tuesday and netted a match-winning brace in a 4-2 victory over Leicester City.

The 29-year-old said moving away from Stamford Bridge was never a consideration.

"I never planned to leave Chelsea," Fabregas told Cadena COPE.

"Real Madrid? Maybe they called me or maybe not. But I didn't think to leave Chelsea, not even for a second."

Shinji Okazaki capitalised on some poor defending to give the hosts a 2-0 lead at the King Power Stadium but Gary Cahill headed Chelsea back into the contest on the stroke of half-time.

Cesar Azpilicueta volleyed a magnificent equaliser in the 49th minute when Fabregas' cross was partially cleared and the Spain playmaker made the most of Chelsea's numerical advantage – Leicester defender Marcin Wasilewski was sent off for striking Diego Costa in the 89th minute – with two goals inside the opening four minutes of the additional period.