‘Better options’: Chelsea defender says he could have earned more money by leaving Stamford Bridge last summer

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Chelsea defender Cesar Azpilicueta has claimed to The Athletic that he could have earned a lot more money if he had left the club last summer.

The Spain international triggered a clause in his contract that extended his decade long spell at Stamford Bridge.

He looked set for all the world to be headed to Barcelona before this season began, as the club prepared for a defensive exodus.

They had already seen Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen depart on free transfers as the whole backline began to look very different.

Azpilicueta eventually stayed however, and has now claimed that he chose to do this despite having better offers on the table.

Azpilicueta had better offers to leave Chelsea

He said: “I had better options in terms of contract years and salary elsewhere, but that’s not what I wanted to do. I’ve been here for over 10 years. I’ve had a chance to create an amazing relationship with the fans, the club, employees. I could not leave.

“Even though I knew what triggering the clause would mean, my heart, my head didn’t allow me to do anything other than keep being ready for every match and playing 30 games. I did not know who the owner was going to be or what situation we were going to end up in, but that is how I felt.”

The 33-year-old has been called upon for cover at the back when Reece James has been injured, which unfortunately has been more often than not recently.

However, he has struggled to maintain the superb reliability that he has become known for across his tenured spell in West London.

Azpilicueta’s time at the club looks set to come to an end perhaps at the end of this season, when Malo Gusto arrives at Chelsea after his January transfer.