Cesar Azpilicueta becomes sixth player to make 500 Chelsea appearances

Cesar Azpilicueta became the sixth player ever to make 500 appearances in a Chelsea shirt in the 0-0 draw with Liverpool on Saturday.

Chelsea signed the Spanish full-back from Marseille in the summer of 2012, paying the French club around £7m to get him.

He immediately became a first-team player and has remained one ever since, playing at least 40 times in each of the ten full seasons he has spent at the club.

Even at the age of 33, he is still an important player for them and has already played 24 matches this season, with the 24th taking him onto a significant milestone.

Prior to the match against Liverpool, which ended 0-0, only five players had played 500 times for Chelsea: Ron Harris, Peter Bonetti, John Terry, Frank Lampard and John Hollins.

Azpilicueta has now become the sixth man to do so, further cementing his place in the club’s history books after being brought on with nine minutes left of the match at Anfield to help his team hold on to a point.

Given his age, it’s unlikely that he’ll move any higher in the rankings when it comes to Chelsea appearances with fifth-placed Hollins 92 games ahead of him.

However, it’s not impossible with the Spaniard’s current contract lasting until the end of the 2024 season and there being a chance that he extends it.

He did come close to leaving for Barcelona during the summer but ultimately signed a new deal instead, and he hasn’t been heavily linked with any other clubs since then.