FABREGAS: IT FELT LIKE I WAS DOING BARCELONA A 'FAVOUR' BY JOINING CHELSEA

Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas says Barcelona made it feel like he was doing them a "favour" by leaving and returning to England in the summer.

Cesc Fabregas arrived at Chelsea from Barcelona in the summer.

Fabregas, 27, re-joined Barca from Arsenal in 2011 but never really fully settled back in at the Camp Nou, while he was regularly the brunt of criticism from Blaugrana pundits and fans dissatisfied that the team was not playing as fluidly or successfully as hoped for.The Spain international's return to the Premier League this summer -- for a fee of 27 million pounds -- was viewed as good business by many in the Catalan capital, even though Xavi Hernandez is now entering the final stages of his career.Fabregas told El Pais he thought about leaving Barca towards the end of the 2013-14 campaign and that the decision was cemented after a conversation with sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta before the summer's World Cup."I began to have the idea after the Copa del Rey final," Fabregas said. "That is when I began to think that it was over, that there was a change coming and that there was no sense in continuing."I let the club know a week after losing the La Liga title, from London, in the free week before the World Cup. I called Zubizarreta. And by the answer, I felt like I was doing them a favour, that it was good for them and for me."I spoke with my agent and told him to look for a team for me. The offer arrived from Chelsea, and for me it was about returning to London, the place where I grew up. There was no better destination. I spoke with [Jose] Mourinho and he told me things I needed to hear. I felt valued, I felt I was going to be an important piece of something important."It will be "special" to play against his former side in England, Fabregas said, while pointing out that he was sure he would do everything to win."I did think about it," he said. "I will always be a Gunner and I know I will return to the Emirates, and I feel it will be a special moment."But I am a committed guy. I remember when I played a Champions League final against Barca [in 2006] and I swear I would have done anything to win that match. And I am a Barca fan since I was a kid."So when I have to play against Arsenal, I will know which team I am on, who are my teammates, and what I am defending. And I know that Arsenal fans will understand me, I have no doubt about that."The strangest of all, for many, is that Fabregas now plays for Chelsea coach Mourinho, with the two having clashed regularly during clasicos in recent seasons -- a possibility which he admitted was not on the cards a few years back."Well I would not have believed it," he said. "But life can take some strange turns.

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