Puyol: I could not leave Camp Nou
442 Staff - Monday 26 October 2009, 15:40
Barcelona captain Carles Puyol has revealed that he was tempted to leave the European champions next summer to experience a new challenge, but in the end could not bring himself to say goodbye.
The 31-year-old has spent his entire career with the Camp Nou club,
making more than 300 la Liga appearances since
graduating from the club's B team in 1999.
The Euro 2008 winner, who has 79 caps for his country, had appeared to be stalling on agreeing a new deal with Pep Guardiola's side, with speculation rife that he was keen to play abroad before calling time on his career.
However, despite reported interest from Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Inter Milan and AC Milan, Puyol eventually opted to sign an extension with the Spanish treble winners.
And he admitted that although he did consider moving on to try something new, the opportunity to continue playing with the Catalan giants was too good to turn down.
"I look forward to being here for many years," he said in Sport.
"It was very clear that this season I would be here and I wanted to enjoy it. I asked for time to think about if I could try something else.
"But it's easy to stay here, especially for the fans. Nobody else gives me what I can get from Barcelona."