West Ham midfielder Edson Alvarez has revealed how close he came to joining Chelsea during his time at Ajax.
The Hammers signed Alvarez from Ajax last summer for a fee of around £35m.
Alvarez’s move comes after West Ham sold Declan Rice to Arsenal for £105m,
leaving David Moyes to strengthen his midfield options.
Alvarez has since made 35 appearances for West Ham in his first season in English football.
The 26-year-old has also scored two goals, one in the Premier League and one in the Europa League.
But according to Alvarez, things could have played out very differently.
The Mexico international said he was close to signing for Chelsea months before joining West Ham.
Alvarez said he had “an hour” left before boarding the plane
where he was scheduled to sign his contract with Chelsea.
However, he insists Ajax made the decision not to leave the club at the 11th hour.
“In fact, in my third year [at Ajax] I had to go to Chelsea. The plane was waiting for me at the airport,”
Alvarez said in an interview with Caliente TV. “When Ajax said to me, ‘You know, you’re not going.’
“It doesn’t matter to me whether people believe it or not. It’s me who’s there and I’m the one going through it.
“I was on the plane with an hour left to sign the contract with Chelsea and Ajax said, `You’re not leaving.”
So you’re not getting on the plane, what are you going to do? There’s no way you’ll leave me. ”
Chelsea have significantly improved his midfield options in recent years.
In recent transfer windows, Enzo Fernandes, Moises Caicedo, Cole Palmer, Romeo Lavia, Leslie Ugochukwu, Carney Chukwuemeka and Cesare Casadei have all been signed under Stamford Bridge manager Todd Boley.
