Arsenal had no place for me: Fabregas

Cesc Fabregas has confirmed he did not join Arsenal from Barcelona because Arsene Wenger had no place for him.

The midfielder signed for Chelsea for €33m but confirmed a clause in his contract gave Arsenal first refusal and that he spoke to Wenger but that in the end, the manager decided not to proceed because Mesut Özil now occupies Fabregas’ position. It was then that José Mourinho convinced him to join Chelsea ahead of the “many” other options he had in the Premier League.

“When I decided that my time at Barcelona had ended, I looked for the best option for me,” Fabregas explained yesterday. “Arsenal was the first option, for contractual reasons. There was a clause that gave them the right to decide. We spoke to Wenger and he said that the space was very well filled by Mesut Özil and it was hard to find a place for both of us in the team.