Fabregas confirms Arsenal rejected chance to re-sign him

Matt Stead

Cesc Fabregas has confirmed that Arsenal chose not to re-sign him when he left Barcelona in 2014.

Arsenal had “first option” on Fabregas when Barcelona sought to offload him three years ago.

The Spaniard eventually returned to the Premier League with Arsenal’s bitter rivals Chelsea, but the Gunners had the chance to bring back a player who had spent eight years with the club.

In an interview with Sky Sports before Chelsea and Arsenal drew 0-0 on Sunday – read 16 Conclusions and do it now – he confirmed that Arsenal didn’t even contact him despite having first refusal on the player.

The Gunners would sign Alexis Sanchez from Barca that summer so, y’know, it all worked out.

“Once I made the decision to leave Barca, Arsenal had the first option, and Barcelona had the obligation to contact Arsenal first,” he said.

“Then they had a week to basically respond yes or no to the buy-out clause.

“I knew Chelsea were on the side, among other clubs, but after I spoke to [Jose] Mourinho in the meantime he convinced me that it was a great place to come.

“The week passed, Arsenal never responded, never contacted me either, so I took it as them having enough players in their squad, so I made my move to Chelsea.”