Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta has opened up about his failed move to Barcelona this summer.
Cesar Azpilicueta entered the final year of his contract with Chelsea last month, with Barcelona keen on signing the full-back. However, as it turned out, Azpilicueta extended his contract with Chelsea by another two years, leaving the Blaugrana to focus on other options.
The Blues entered the transfer window with the primary objective of reinforcing their thin defensive unit high. Chelsea saw Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger depart as free agents, and rumours surrounding the possible departures of Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso were also doing the rounds.
The west London club responded by signing Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli but are yet to sign another right-sided defender in the ongoing transfer window. Therefore, losing Azpilicueta to Barcelona would have been a big setback, leaving Chelsea even shorter on options at the back.
However, after triggering a one-year extension on his previous contract, Chelsea further tied Azpilicueta down until 2025. The 32-year-old has now revealed that he was open to leaving Chelsea after winning the FIFA Club World Cup last season, which completed his trophy set with the club.
However, with the change in ownership and a temporary ban on the club to offer new deals to their players and sign new ones, Azpilicueta had a change of heart.
“Yes the conversations were there [with Barcelona],” the defender told The Guardian. “After the Club World Cup, where I became the only player to ever win every trophy, I felt it was the time to go back. But then everything happened with this club. I wanted to stay committed to the club. I never did anything against my club.”
“We had private conversations where I said everything. We had players leaving and I have never been in a transfer market situation in 10 years. It was different. For a period I was a free agent and who knows what could have happened in that period. I decided to stay silent because I think there was already enough noise around me. I didn’t want to make it worse because I wanted to stay focused on my game.”
The Spaniard has been with Chelsea since joining them in 2012 from Marseille. He has since made 474 appearances for the west London outfit across competitions and has won every trophy available during his ten-year stint. With Barcelona unable to sign Azpilicueta, it will be interesting to see if they bring in another right-back this summer or stick with their current options.
