Cesc Fabregas joined Chelsea in the summer of 2014 from Barcelona, but there were many twists and turns regarding that deal.
The midfielder had moved back to La Liga in 2011, but after just three years in Spain, he was seeking a return to the Premier League.
However, Arsenal failed to exercise the buy-back clause in his contract, meaning a move to Stamford Bridge came about instead.
"My agent Darren Dein spoke to Arsene [Wenger], he didn't give him an answer to be honest," Fabregas told the Arsecast podcast.
"Then we had to wait one full week to see if Arsenal responded. Definitely this was my first option, in my mind I'm telling everyone I'm going to Arsenal, this is what I want.
"Arsene, [Ivan] Gazidis and everyone or nobody basically said anything for a week. I didn't want to be a beggar.
"We told them once, they know the situation if in one week they hadn't said anything...straight away I knew that probably they didn't want me back.
"They could have said after three hours they didn't want me back so I could have spoken to other teams.
"They waited the whole week without giving me a response and still since then, no response ever."
Fabregas spoke to Manchester City and Manchester United about a potential transfer, but he said he was convinced to move to West London after speaking with Jose Mourinho.
"I spoke to Mourinho, which I didn't think would ever happen to be honest and he knows that, because of what happened when I was at Arsenal and Chelsea, Barcelona and Real Madrid, many, many thing," Fabregas added.
"But after I left the room with Mourinho I said to Darren: 'that's it, I'm going to Chelsea'. There was no money involved. What he told me, the team he wanted to make, what he thought of me, how he wanted me to play absolutely every game.
"I just felt for many things that Chelsea was the right solution at that time. To be honest, thank God I took that decision. I know it can be controversial with the Arsenal fans but these five years I've been very happy there.
"We won everything in England. The most winning team in English football in the time I've been there, playing some great football at times. With the fans there's been a connection, we always had a great understanding. I've been so happy there.
"The reality is that I went there, won two Premier Leagues, which was my dream, FA Cup, League Cups, Europa League.
"In the end it was meant to be and I'm very happy with the choice I made."
