Brazilian superstar Neymar has sensationally revealed that he was the subject of a huge bid from Chelsea during Carlo Ancelotti’s reign at The Bridge.
The Barcelona forward Neymar claims that, during his time at Santos, Brazilian legend Pele convinced him to reject the then Premier League champions in order to remain at Santos in Brazil.
The 22 year old completed a mega £49 million move to Spanish giants Barcelona in June last year but this move may never have happened had he opted to join Chelsea three years earlier.
Neymar claims he was at the heart of a “huge transfer bid” from the London club, and when he was convinced to stay in Brazil by none other than Pele, Chelsea opted to sign Fernando Torres from Liverpool.
“My father and I had a meeting with president Luis Álvaro at the Santos headquarters. Chelsea had made a huge transfer bid”, claimed Neymar.
That decision would be a turning point in my life. Even Pele called me. Can you imagine how important I felt?
“It wasn’t easy but it was the right decision for us. We did the right thing for our family, friends and my career,” he finished.
The move to Barcelona was a controversial one with many legal issued being left to be ironed out, but it has led to him becoming one of the world’s rising stars, particularly at this year’s World Cup in his home country Brazil.
He is currently joint top scorer in the competition with four goals and with Brazil looking to progress to the quarter finals tonight against Chile, more could be to come.
So, how different could the careers of Neymar, Fernando Torres and the future of Chelsea have been if The Blues had pulled off a big money move for 18 year old Neymar, who is developing into one of the world’s finest players?
