Cesc Fabregas has said he expects to be happy upon returning to London after completing his move from Barcelona to Chelsea.
AS reports the Spain midfielder telling El Partido de las Doce that he will settle in to the English capital, having spent a long time there when an Arsenal player.
He also confirmed that he asked to leave Barcelona, said he will look back fondly upon his time at Camp Nou, and denied the suggestion the club sent Lionel Messi to ask him to remain.
“I know I’ll be happy. It’s important that everything goes well but I lived eight years in London, I have my house and my friends,” the former Gunners captain said.
“It’s an hour and a half from Barcelona. But hey, it’s a new club. I’m confident I’ll do very well.
“There is a certain moment and I spoke with [Andoni Zubizarreta] and the President and told them I want to go, and asked them to help me make the best decision. And it was very easy.
“There have been many, many things. I played with my friends and lived a great life at Camp Nou and outside. For me it was a great step.
“It’s over and I look to something else. I have no fear of challenges but I’m at the World Cup. I asked to go.
“The data shows I did what they asked of me [42 goals and 45 assists] and I was in a crucial part of the pitch. They’re not bad numbers but it’s true I didn’t play the major games.
“I’m happy. I played three years with my friends and that’s something nice to say.
“It’s not true that Messi asked me to stay. That’s a lie. We know each other personally and he wouldn’t say that.
“He said to go where I’d be happy and didn’t ask anything.”
Fabregas also touched on Spain’s poor start to the World Cup, denying that Vicente Del Bosque’s position should be under threat.
