Azpilicueta and his rejection to Barca: "I think Xavi understood"

Xavi Hernandez understood Cesar Azpilicueta perfectly when the defender opted to renew his contract with Chelsea instead of signing for Barcelona as a free agent. The footballer himself, in an interview with 'Carrusel Canalla', on the 'SER' channel, explained this. The fact that his children are so well adapted to London was a key factor: they speak better English than Spanish. The full-back, apart from this issue, spoke about others on the radio programme.

"At Chelsea, I played less than 30 games and I was already a free agent. That had never happened to me before in my life. The new owners arrived and showed me that they wanted to stay for me. 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," he said. He now has a contract until 30 June 2024 at Stamford Bridge.

On the World Cup in Qatar that he is playing with the Spanish national team, he said: "Now is the time for the good things and we have to show what we are capable of. We are very excited. Everyone took the qualification phase for granted, but Italy are out, Portugal got into the play-offs.... When they tell us that Costa Rica have gone through and that we're out, I almost had a fit. It was a group where anything could happen.

Azpilicueta is likely to be on the bench for the round of 16 clash against Morocco. He has been confirmed by his own coach, Luis Enrique, who once again appeared on the Twitch platform. His player, despite his expected absence, at least in the starting eleven, has already played in the games against Costa Rica and Japan.