Fernando Llorente has confirmed he turned down an approach from Chelsea to reunite with Antonio Conte in order to stay with Swansea in January.
Conte was keen to reunite with Llorente midway through the season having previously worked with the Spaniard during their time at Juventus.
It was a surprise given how underwhelming Llorente had been during the first half of the campaign but the 32-year-old has come good for Swansea and played an integral part in the club's relegation battle.
“I know Chelsea wanted me in January. I said straight away that I wanted to stay here. We were fighting relegation, there was a cause,” Llorente told The Daily Mail. “I could not go. If a big club comes in for me in the future who knows because every player wants to play for a big club. But I am very, very happy here.
‘I have always wanted to play in the Premier League and I truly believe it is the best league in the world. It is an intense league and it has been a hard season because I am used to winning. But it is also very rewarding when you achieve in this intense situation that we had here.”
Llorente only has 12 months to run on his current deal at Swansea and it remains to be seen whether he has a long-term future at the club after weighing in with important goals for Paul Clement’s side this season.
In fact, of the 14 goals he has scored in the Premier League, six of those have been headers and no player can claim to have scored more.
For more stats on Fernando Llorente, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
