Barcelona were not in favour of Chelsea move: Cesc Fabregas

Cesc Fabregas

Spain international Cesc Fabregas, who last week joined Chelsea in a £28.4 million deal has claimed Barcelona tried to block the deal and were reluctant to sell him.

The 27-year-old ended his three-year stay at the Catalan club by signing a 5-year deal to play at Stamford Bridge and he insisted that Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu was against the move.

Fabregas said: "I asked Barcelona to find a way for me to leave the club. The president tried to stop the sale, but I already had my mind made up,"

“Honestly, it all went really smoothly. I'm not leaving for any specific reason, if not for a multitude of different things, my own errors and that’s it.

"If I didn't think that I'd be happy at Chelsea, I would've never made this decision. Above all, I want to be happy both professionally and personally.

"Chelsea have great players - young and talented - and building a great team with new signings. I have no doubt I'll be happy, I lived in London for eight years, I have friends and family there."

Barcelona immediately released a statement confirming the deal and criticized Fabregas’s decline in performance over the years.