Azpilicueta reveals truth about failed Barcelona move
Cameron Smith
- 9 Aug 2022 18:55 BST
- 3 min read
Chelsea club captain Cesar Azpilicueta has shed light on his decision to renew his contract at Stamford Bridge and stay at the club rather than complete a move to Barcelona this summer.
Azpilicueta, 31, joined Chelsea back in 2012, but after a decade at the club he was linked with a move to Barcelona this summer, along with team-mate Marcos Alonso.
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While Alonso is still on Barcelona's radar, Azpilicueta is no longer on the market after he signed a new deal to keep him at Chelsea until 2024.
The Spanish international, who took over the captaincy duties at Chelsea after Gary Cahill's exit in 2019, was wanted by Xavi to solve the Blaugrana's issues at right-back, but decided to stay put in West London instead.
Azpilicueta signed for Chelsea from French club Marseille, and opted against moving clubs this summer, despite admitting that he was tempted by Barcelona's interest.
Instead, he signed a fresh two-year deal at the club. His previous deal was due to expire this summer until he activated an appearance-based clause that automatically extended it to 2023. That has been prolonged by one more year now.
It was, however, believed that Azpilicueta would accompany Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger in leaving Chelsea on free transfers this summer after sanctions in the club ensured contract renewals couldn't take place. But, due to the clause existing in Azpilicueta's contract he stayed at the club.
What has Azpilicueta said?
He told the official club website: "I’m always totally honest and the conversations were there. I thought after the Club World Cup, winning this trophy and being the first player at Chelsea to win every single trophy available, that perhaps it was time to go back to Spain, maybe for a new challenge.
"But then everything happened, we had some really good conversations with the manager and the owners. I’m the captain of this club and I wanted to stay committed to Chelsea. The conversations we had will remain private, but we had some really good communications, we said what we thought and then I realised that I wanted to continue to help my club."
He added: "I’m really happy to sign the new contract. The last few months have been a little crazy but I’m really happy to extend my stay here. It’s a new project and I’m really looking forward to the season ahead.
"It was quite a rare situation in the sense that I was coming out of contract and then the club were sanctioned in March, so nothing could be done at that time with regards to speaking about an extension, so it was difficult. Everybody can speak a lot about your name [in the media] but the actions I think speak louder.
"I stayed committed to my club, I played the games as best as I could even though I didn’t know what was going to happen. Then the new ownership group arrived, we had a very honest conversation and I decided that I was right to stay home here at Chelsea."
