Carles Puyol has admitted that he wanted to consider a change of club before deciding to extend his contract at Barcelona.

The hard-tackling defender started his career with the Catalans and was in the midst of extending his contract.  He had seriously thought of changing clubs for a new experience in England or Italy.

But he has since changed his mind and signed on at Camp Nou until 2013, the club has confirmed.

Reports have suggested that Chelsea, Manchester City, Inter and AC Milan had all been linked with Puyol but he has chosen to stay put.

"I look forward to being here for many years," he was quoted as saying by 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 could give me what Barcelona does."