Cesc Fabregas has claimed that he had three offers on the table from Premier League clubs this summer, but decided to join Chelsea after Arsenal informed him they already had enough midfielders among their squad.

Before Chelsea’s 2-0 win over the Gunners on Sunday, Arsene Wenger confirmed that he turned down the chance to sign the former Arsenal captain despite a clause in his contract giving the North London club first refusal on the Spaniard, which existed from the transfer deal that saw him join Barcelona in 2011.

Wenger also suggested that Fabregas’ move to Chelsea had been agreed “early in 2014”, but as reported by the Evening Standard, the 27-year-old has revealed that there was interest in his services from three Premier League clubs – one of which was Manchester United.

Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Asmir Begovic, Chelsea Saved Walcott’s 28th-minute effort and provided a strong presence in goal throughout the game. 7 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Branislav Ivanovic, Chelsea Put in an improved showing after being rested against Maccabi Tel Aviv. The right-back was tested by Sanchez’s pace regularly but often did enough to track back and stop the Arsenal winger from causing too much damage although it earned him a yellow card. 6 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Kurt Zouma, Chelsea The Frenchman was superb at the heart of Chelsea’s defence and again, like against Maccabi, worked well with Cahill. After firing a speculative shot high in the 36th minute, Zouma scored the opener with a fine header at the near post. 8 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Gary Cahill, Chelsea Provided leadership at the back and was never afraid of coming out to clear his lines - indeed it was Cahill who worked well with Zouma to snuff out Sanchez’s 59th-minute run as Arsenal looked for the equaliser. 8 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Cesar Azpilicueta, Chelsea Was never really troubled by Ramsey and looked comfortable back in his left-back position after being utilised at right-back against Maccabi. 7 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea Looked invigorated against his former side after scoring a goal in the Champions League on Wednesday, and delivered the free-kick that Zouma scored from. The midfielder also showed how important he can be in setting up attacks with a superb lofty ball to Pedro just after the half-hour mark. 7 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Nemanja Matic, Chelsea Protected Chelsea’s back line well and provided a good defensive body in the middle of the park although he made a few sloppy passes in the match. 6 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Oscar, Chelsea The Brazilian enjoyed another good game from his central position and worked the lines well to help build up Chelsea’s attacks. 6 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Pedro, Chelsea Came back into the starting line-up after recovering from a minor thigh strain and, while the winger wasn’t as effective as he has been in previous outings, he tried his best to score with several shots at goal. 5 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Eden Hazard, Chelsea Had an early penalty appeal turned down, but the Belgian’s pace gave Bellerin work to do on the left before his powerful shot in the 90th minute deflected off Chambers and into the back of the net to make it 2-0. 7 Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Diego Costa, Chelsea The striker was undoubtedly the main controversial figure of the clash. While he was Chelsea’s main threat up front as he regularly pulled Arsenal’s defenders out of position with his runs, he should have been sent off for striking Koscielny’s face and then chesting him down to the pitch after being confronted by the Frenchman. Costa later provoked Gabriel enough to see him be sent off, which turned the game around. However, put in a good showing for the home side. 6 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Petr Cech, Arsenal The goalkeeper looked at ease despite playing at his former stomping ground and made several saves to keep his side in the contest until Zouma scored. May feel he could have done more to try and stop the Chelsea defender’s header. 6 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Hector Bellerin, Arsenal The right-back had a busy afternoon trying to contain the threat of Hazard but often used his speed to stop the Belgian from wreaking havoc. However, he could have given away a second-half penalty for his challenge on Costa just inside the area. 6 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Laurent Koscielny, Arsenal The defender lost Zouma in the build-up to the opener, but admirably did not react to Costa striking his face. 6 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Gabriel, Arsenal Was needlessly sent off just before the break for swinging his leg at Costa after a confrontation with the striker, which reduced Arsenal to 10 men and turned the game on its head. The defender could have done better not to react to Costa’s goading but defended well otherwise. 4 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Nacho Monreal, Arsenal The left-back snuffed out some early Chelsea chances, first doing enough to stop Costa as he attacked and then pressurising Pedro into hesitating with only Cech to beat. But he found it harder to defend as well as he had in the first half when Arsenal went down to 10 and then nine men. 7 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Francis Coquelin, Arsenal Played an important role in clearing the danger just in front of Arsenal’s defence in the first half but came off. 7 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal Never really troubled Azpilicueta on the right flank, and his best moment to score came when he was set up by Ozil just before the break - but he hesitated which led to Arsenal’s fine counter-attack collapsing. 5 GETTY IMAGES Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Santi Cazorla, Arsenal Was shown his second yellow card of the afternoon and subsequently sent off for a reckless tackle on Fabregas in the 79th minute which reduced Arsenal to nine men after having been cautioned for an earlier foul on Pedro. 4 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Mesut Ozil, Arsenal Made a fine run to set up Ramsey on the counter but, other than that, could not work his way past Chelsea’s stubborn defence. Was taken off in the 75th minute. 5 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal He tested Ivanovic with his pacey runs down the left flank several times during the game, but was marked well when going on the attack. Substituted in the 74th minute. 5 Getty Images Chelsea 2 Arsenal 0 player ratings Theo Walcott, Arsenal Wenger started the 26-year-old up front as the lone striker and although he was a threat early on – indeed he forced Begovic into a save in the 28th minute with his low shot – he could not get the better of Zouma and Cahill to score. 6 Getty Images

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says it took 20 minutes to persuade Fabregas his future was in west London and the Spaniard admitted that meeting was a decisive factor in determining his future.

“I’ve always played in clubs where I wanted to play,” he told Spanish radio station COPE. “At the end of last season, I saw Chelsea as the best option. I always thought about a return to England and I talked to Mourinho and realised this was the best option.

“It was arranged through my agent. There was no call with Mourinho, just a face-to-face meeting. Jose showed great respect and convinced me quickly. We were honest, we put aside any history and I made my decision after talking with him. Overall I had three options in England.

“Wenger was already covered with [Mesut] Ozil, [Santi] Cazorla and [Jack] Wilshere and so I was less needed in my position. So I decided to go to Chelsea. Arsenal had an option but they told me they had similar players in my position.”

Fabregas and Wenger developed a close relationship during his time at Arsenal (PA)

Fabregas also spoke of his emotion at leaving his boyhood club and despite departing for the second time in his career, he has no regrets over leaving Catalonia.