Cesar Azpilicueta has played down his clash with a Chelsea supporter after the Blues‘ 4-2 defeat to Arsenal.

The club captain played the full 90 minutes and even scored his side’s second goal, but after the full-time whistle he was seen in a war of words with a supporter in the crowd, reacting on the pitch before going over to the sideline to confront them.

„It looked worse than it was,“ Azpilicueta told Sky Sports. „It was at the end of the game and I was angry with my performance, I was angry with the result, with the penalty… and I just spotted him in the crowd.

„It was nothing to do with him, just an exchange of words that did look worse than it was. We spoke clearly, he wanted more fight from the team and he was right, and I expressed my view that, in this moment, we were having a moment of difficulty. We had less fans in the stadium, we were in a moment of difficulty and we needed to push hard together in the same direction.“

Azpilicueta also revealed that he bumped into the same supporter after the recent 1-0 victory over West Ham and quickly made amends.

„The other day, after the game, I saw him again,“ he continued. „I gave him the captain’s armband.“

It remains to be seen whether this season will be Azpilicueta’s final at Stamford Bridge. A one-year option in his contract has been triggered but, prior to being put up for sale, Chelsea were prepared to let the 32-year-old leave if he wanted to.

However, with new owners set to arrive in the near future, fresh talks will be held over Azpilicueta’s situation. With Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger both leaving this summer, whoever takes control at Stamford Bridge may refuse to lose another key defender as well.

As far as incomings go, Chelsea remain focused on Sevilla’s Jules Kounde and there is a belief that he will be among the first signings of the new ownership.