During the summer, Barcelona were on the hunt for a new right-back and had made Chelsea captain and icon Cesar Azpilicueta their topmost target.
The Spanish international was believed to have made an impression with his leadership, versatility and experience, which made manager Xavi Hernandez eager to sign him up.
For a while, talks over a move were held but in the end, Azpilicueta, whose contract with Chelsea was up, ended up renewing with the Premier League side.
During a recent press conference, the 33-year-old opened up on the failed move to Barcelona and spoke about how Chelsea’s new owners convinced him to remain at the club.
“At Chelsea I played less than 30 games and I was already a free agent. It had never happened to me in my life. The new owners arrived and showed me that they wanted to stay for me”, he commented (h/t SPORT).
Further elaborating on how he informed Xavi and Barcelona of his decision, Azpilicueta added: “London is my home and my children speak better English than Spanish. When I made the decision I think Xavi understood. If things are clear, they are understood.”
With Azpilicueta not arriving, Barcelona moved their attention towards Juan Foyth of Villarreal. However, an injury in the transfer window prevented the Argentine from switching clubs as well.
In the end, the Blaugrana had to settle with the free-transfer signing of former La Masia ace Hector Bellerin, who arrived from Arsenal. However, the Spaniard has failed to make any major impact since joining and a potential exit in January is already being talked about.
As for Azpilicueta, he is currently with the Spain national team at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, where he is the preferred option at right-back for Luis Enrique ahead of Real Madrid’s Dani Carvajal.