Chelsea: Cesc Fabregas reveals he left Spain and joined Blues because Barcelona fans did not like him

Cesc Fabregas has revealed that the dislike of a majority of Barcelona fans towards him forced him to leave Nou Camp. The midfielder returned to the Premier League and joined Chelsea in the summer of 2014.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger signed the Spain international in 2003. After spending eight years with the Gunners, he returned to Barcelona in 2011. The 28-year-old believed the La Liga giants pushed him out of the Catalan club, which convinced him to leave the treble winners.

"I treated the people of Barcelona well. But at the end I realized that the majority of Barca fans didn't like me anymore, and so I had to make a step aside," Fabregas told Spanish publication Marca, as quoted by the Evening Standard.

Fabregas admitted Barcelona's league rivals Real Madrid were also interested in securing his services in the past. In his first year with the west London club, the star midfielder went on to win the Premier League and the Capital One Cup in 2014/15 season.

The former Arsenal captain has failed to emulate last season's form for the defending English champions. The midfielder has featured in 12 league games and so far is without a goal and managed only one assist.

During Fabregas's time at Barcelona, Jose Mourinho managed Real Madrid until 2013, after which he returned to Chelsea that summer. A year later the Portuguese tactician signed him for the Blues. The Spaniard went on to reveal his switch to Stamford Bridge was down to football and "nothing else."

"Mourinho was our rival [when Fabregas was at Barca], the same as Real Madrid, the same as Sergio Ramos, as Pepe, as Cristiano...We wanted to win against Real Madrid, but not for personal reasons. You wanted Barcelona to win, not to defeat Mourinho," Sky Sports reported the midfielder as saying.

"[The move to Chelsea was] Football, nothing else. Football moves very quickly, much quicker than people think. It goes from day to day. You talk to a manager or a player and the next day there's something different. You turn the page and you forget everything."