Cesar Azpilicueta has admitted he was considering a return to Spain before agreeing a new contract at Chelsea.
The Spain international, 32, put pen to paper on a fresh two-year deal at Stamford Bridge earlier this month. He was linked with a move to Spanish giants Barcelona for much of the year but has finally put his future to bed by continuing his long-spell with the Blues.
Azpilicueta has been a regular for Chelsea since joining the club a decade ago, making 477 appearances to date and becoming captain. He's won nine trophies at Stamford Bridge - including two Premier League titles, two Europa Leagues and the Champions League.
It was assumed Azpilicueta would leave the club this summer after previous owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned for allegedly having ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin, something he denies. Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine in February.
Due to those sanctions, Chelsea were unable to agree new contracts with existing players. As a result, the likes of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen were allowed to leave Stamford Bridge when their respective deals expired this summer.
Azpilicueta's contract was also due to expire in June, but Chelsea were able to extend it by another 12 months in March due to a clause that was inserted before the sanctions were introduced.
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Since then, a consortium led by Todd Boehly has completed a takeover of Chelsea - ending Abramovich's 19-year reign and the restrictions placed on the club - and they've been able to agree a new contract with Azpilicueta, extending his stay until June 2023.
"I’m always totally honest and the conversations were there," Azpilicueta told Chelsea's website. "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."
Azpilicueta continued: "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."
