Cesc Fabregas has revealed he had his heart set on a return to Arsenal but was left out in the cold when he received no reply.
The Spanish serial winner made 306 appearances for Arsenal over an eight-year spell, captaining the club along the way. He left north London for Barcelona in 2011, however, in a move that he regrettably says he forced.
The 32-year-old states he was later desperate to return to the Premier League and Arsenal but after receiving a lack of interest - alongside a quick conversation with Jose Mourinho - Fabregas ended up at rivals Chelsea.
Speaking on the Arsecast podcast, Fabregas said: "My agent Darren [Dein] spoke to Arsene. He didn’t give him an answer to be honest, 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. Not Arsene, [Ivan] Gazidis or anyone 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… straightaway 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."
The decorated midfielder - now playing for Monaco in France - made a total of 504 appearances in the Premier League.
