Cesc Fabregas reveals the reason why he opted Chelsea over Manchester United and City after Arsenal rejected him to re-sign him in 2014.
Cesc Fabregas returned back to the Premier League after having an underwhelming stint at Barcelona. As soon speculations started of him leaving the Catalans, many English giants joined the race to sign him.
Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, all were ready to offer him contracts and the talks went on for long.
In the end, Cesc Fabregas agreed to join Chelsea, after never-ending talks, 6 years later Fabregas has left Chelsea and now plays for Monaco and has revealed why he preferred the Blues over all the big guns after Arsenal dropped from the race.
‘Once I decide to leave (Barcelona), Arsenal will have the first option of any other club and I cannot speak to any other club for one week to see if Arsenal want me or not,’ Fabregas told the Arsecast podcast.
‘Arsene didn’t give an answer, we just had to wait one full week to see if they responded. Definitely this was my first option, in my mind I’m telling everyone I’m going to Arsenal – this is what I want.
‘Arsene can see this. I didn’t want to be a beggar, they know the situation, in one week they haven’t said anything, straight away I knew they probably didn’t want me back. They waited for the full week without giving me a response.
‘After the week I had to take my chance, I had Manchester City, United and then I spoke to Mourinho – which I didn’t think would ever happen.
‘To be honest, after I left the room with Mourinho I said “that’s it, I don’t need to talk to anyone else, I’m going to Chelsea.” What he told me, the team he wanted to make, what he thought of me, how he wanted me to play, this is what I wanted.
‘On top of that it’s London not Manchester, London was my home. Fabregas recently called out a fan who accused him of being a ‘snake’ and ‘throwing the club under the bus’ for supposedly pointing to the Chelsea badge when he came up against his former side.
He claimed he was in fact telling Arsenal supporters that they would always be in his heart. However, he admitted that he was aware of his decision to sign for the Blue half of London would not go down well with Gunners fans.
‘I knew this would have repercussions with Arsenal, it would have been the same with City or United but I wanted to go back to the Premier League.
‘Thank god that I took that decision because those five years I was very happy there, we’ve won everything in England, the most winning team in English football when I’ve been there. With the fans, there was a connection that was impeccable.’
Fabregas won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and a League Cup trophy during his five-year spell at Stamford Bridge before he joined Monaco in January 2019.
