Arsenal and Chelsea face off on Sunday afternoon in a top-of-the-table clash in the Premier League
Emmanuel Petit of Arsenal celebrates scoring the winning goal in the last minute during the match between Arsenal and West Ham United in the FA Carling Premiership at Highbury, London.
Emmanuel Petit played for both London clubs (Image: Laurence Griffiths/ALLSPORT)
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Emmanuel Petit has major regrets about leaving Arsenal in 2000 to join Barcelona. The former midfielder went on to join Chelsea a year later, but later revealed he wished he'd joined Manchester United instead.
The red and blue sides of London will clash on Sunday afternoon in a top-of-the-table Premier League fixture. Leaders Arsenal sit six points clear of their city rivals, and a win at Stamford Bridge would cement their dominance in the league.
Meanwhile, Chelsea are on the rise following a 3-0 win over Barcelona in the Champions League and will hope to cut the Gunners' advantage to just three points. One player who has been on both sides is Petit, after he followed Arsene Wenger from Monaco to north London in 1997.
With the Gunners, Petit won the Premier League and FA Cup in his first season and went on to become a World Cup winner with France. However, he departed Arsenal for Barca in 2000, but admits he has regrets about leaving England for Spain.
While discussing Philippe Coutinho's 2018 Barcelona transfer, Petit told us: "If I was Philippe Coutinho, every morning I would wake up and think to myself, 'Why, why, did I sign [for Barcelona] in Spain?'
"And do you know why I say this? Because, I can remember the time when I'd wake up, when I was at Barcelona, when I left Arsenal, and I was thinking the same way, 'Why did I leave? Why did I leave? Why did I leave?'"
Not long after Petit joined Barca, he was tempted back to the Premier League, with Arsenal one of many parties interested in the midfielder. Revealing his decision not to re-join the club, he added: "When I was at Barcelona, they wanted me back at Arsenal, and it was tempting - I was close to returning to Arsenal.
"But at the end of the day, I was thinking 'Emmanuel, you need to be honest with yourself. If you left a year ago, it was for a reason.'"
Petit ended up joining Chelsea and spent three seasons at Stamford Bridge without winning any silverware. The Frenchman told FourFourTwo in 2023 that while he didn't want to return to Arsenal, he should've joined a Premier League giant instead.
Dejection for Emmanuel Petit of Chelsea after the AXA sponsored FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Chelsea played at the Millennium Stadium, in Cardiff, Wales. Arsenal won the match and cup 2-0.
Petit ended up joining Chelsea but it is one of his biggest regrets
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Petit said: "I had many clubs interested in taking me back to England [in 2001]. Arsenal approached me but so did Manchester United. I spoke to Arsene. He really wanted me back, but I was honest with him. I said, 'I appreciate it and it's very tempting, but I didn't feel that you wanted me to stay when I signed for Barcelona a year ago.'
"It's like divorcing somebody. When you don't feel desired by them, what's the point of going back? I should have gone to Manchester United, because Sir Alex Ferguson called me twice.
"We had a very good conversation and it was tempting, but once again I listened to my wife. She wanted to go back to London – she didn't want to live in Manchester – so I made the same mistake twice in one year."
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