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Angel Rangel: 'Swansea became my way of life, I wanted to stay'
Queens Park Rangers defender Angel Rangel says he would have loved to stay at his former club Swansea City.
The Spaniard, 35, departed the Liberty Stadium in May after 11 years as a Swan, playing 374 games for the club.
Rangel held talks with new boss Graham Potter about remaining with the club, but says they were not interested despite his offer to take a pay cut.
"I said I would love to come back and I did not get a response, not a yes or a no, which was frustrating," he said.
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Rangel will return to the Liberty Stadium on Saturday to face his former side and admits he wishes he never had to leave the club and city he considered to be home.
"I wanted to stay, at the beginning of last season I asked about the possibility of extending [my contract] with the chairman [Huw Jenkins]," he told BBC Sport Wales.
"I didn't play much, but when we went down and would obviously be in the Championship I thought maybe there would be an opportunity [to stay].
"The manager [Carlos Carvalhal] left and Graham Potter came in. I did meet him a couple of times after I left and had a good chat with him.
"If it was a no, I could have moved on. I would have tried to prove myself in training, but when I got no answer I thought it was time to move on."
Rangel says the timing was wrong for a return to south Wales, even though he would have taken a wage cut to remain.
"They were assessing the squad in June. Probably the timing was not right to give me an answer," he explained.
"I couldn't wait forever and that was it really. There was no war; it was just time to call it a day at Swansea, even though it was frustrating.
"We never talked numbers, but I would have stayed for less money, of course. That would have been the easiest decision of my career. I would have taken a good cut to stay at Swansea and play in the Championship."
Angel Rangel, pictured with his family, and Leon Britton both received a farewell from Swansea in their last Premier League match against Stoke City in May
Rangel says he had other options before deciding to sign a deal with QPR, admitting he almost ended up playing in Major League Soccer before his potential move to DC United was scuppered by their capture of Wayne Rooney.
"I want to play until I am 38. I am still physically good," he said.
"When you are my age you lose a bit of pace, but you gain experience, so it balances out.
"Some Championship clubs and some La Liga clubs showed interest; I knew that realistically the Premier League was not an option.
"I tried everywhere I could to play at a good level, but clubs want younger players they can sell on.
"A move to DC United was actually happening. They rang me before May to join from this January coming.
"I said that's great but I wanted to move from May. They looked at that… but then they signed Wayne Rooney and it changed their designated players limit. So it fell through.
"So I never had the chance to play with Wayne Rooney, I would have loved to play with him!"
Source: bbc.com