Unai Emery admits he held lengthy talks about becoming Everton's next manager and confessed the Toffees "already loved him".
The Spaniard was sacked by Arsenal in November following a poor run of results, but was close to remaining in the Premier League.
Everton had dismissed Marco Silva around the same period and were looking for a manager whose pedigree matched the ambition of majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri.
Emery's success with Sevilla and PSG made him an attractive proposition and the Spaniard maintains he didn't reject the job, but was keen to take some time out.
He told Spanish TV show El Larguero: "[Everton] was interested in me. I thought about it. I didn't say no, we had a three-hour conversation. They already loved me when I went to PSG."
"I want this break to be a reflection. My first idea is to stay here in Madrid and go to Valencia and London. Then also visit my family in San Sebastian.
"I have interested teams but I have not had any firm offer to return to training.
"I long to return to work in Spain but I do not rule out anything."
Everton eventually turned to Carlo Ancelotti with the Italian tasked with reviving the club's season as they languished in the bottom half.
Two wins in his opening two games have been followed by successive defeats at Manchester City and Liverpool - the latter coming in the FA Cup.
Arsenal meanwhile chose to appoint Mikel Arteta, a man they considered before hiring Emery 18 months ago.
He has won two of his four games in charge so far, the first of those against Manchester United on New Year's Day.
Former Gunner Ian Wright believes the Spaniard has bought a sense of control and organisation - something that he felt was missing under Emery.
He said: "I just didn't think they knew what they were doing. They didn't know the system they were playing. Too many players were playing poorly and they're good players.
"Now they're organised, they know exactly what they're doing."
