What a pity he never received a similar send-off from the Arsenal supporters who once idolised the Spanish midfielder.
Because as good as Fabregas was in Chelsea blue, there can be no doubt that he played his finest football for Arsene Wenger’s Gunners.
And as he prepares to leave English football for good, it is difficult not to feel that Arsenal missed a trick when they allowed their former playmaker to move to Stamford Bridge four years ago.
When Fabregas was sold to Barcelona for £40million in 2011, Arsenal insisted on a clause allowing them the first option to buy the player back.
But Wenger never had any intention of re-signing his former captain when he was put up for sale by the Spanish giants in 2014.
He had forked out a club record £42.5million for Mesut Ozil the previous year and still had Santi Cazorla, Mikel Arteta, Tomas Rosicky, Jack Wilshere and Mathieu Flamini competing for places in central midfield.
Yet the main reason for Wenger’s disinterest was his lingering unhappiness with the way Fabregas had engineered his Emirates departure.
He believed that Fabregas had become a disruptive figure in the dressing-room after having his head turned by Barcelona’s interest.
And he was particularly upset at losing Fabregas and Samir Nasri in the same summer after publicly vowing that he would not sell both players together.
So Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho was allowed to buy the playmaker for £27million and Arsenal were happy to pocket a £5million sell-on fee from Barcelona.
And with the benefit of hindsight, there can be no questions about who got the better of that particular deal.
For while Arsenal limped along with their injury-prone midfield options, Fabregas won two Premier League titles plus the FA Cup and League Cup in his first three seasons at Chelsea.
In eight years at Arsenal, he only had one FA Cup winners’ medal to show for his efforts.
It was the Gunners’ failure to win the top honours which prompted him to leave for Barcelona in the first place.
And suggestions that he was past his best when he returned to the Premier League were quickly put to bed by his outstanding contribution to Chelsea’s 2015 title triumph.
Arsenal fans could only look on and wonder what might have been.
They still remembered how the little Spaniard had become the youngest player in their club’s history and how he was running their midfield while still in his teens.
Few players shared his ability to pick a pass and his fearsome competitive streak meant he was a far more effective player than the languid Ozil has ever been for Arsenal.
Arsenal might not have forgiven Cesc Fabregas, but they should never forget him.
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