How many times has your club hijacked a player who was supposed to sign for a another club after agreeing personal terms or even having passed medicals and still not end up with that club? I am sure you can name a couple of them, but not as many as Chelsea. They have hijacked many deals, some of them which you might be unaware of. Let’s see those deals.
1) Petr Cech
How many of you buys know that Petr Cech was a target for Arsenal? Wenger had been scouting him since his days at Rennes. They wanted to sign him in 2002 when he was playing for Sparta Prague. Cech was unable to get a work permit and then moved to League 1.
Arsenal again had the opportunity to sign him but Chelsea acted quicker and acquired his services. In 2004, he joined Chelsea for £7m. He went on to become Chelsea’s greatest goalkeeper since then, having won the golden gloves a couple of times.
However, Arsenal finally got their man in 2015.
2) Arjen Robben
Current Bayern Munich player had met with Sir Alex Ferguson in London hotel in the summer of 2003. They had agreed to pay £5m for his services and Robben had also agreed personal terms with the club. But the £5m fee was immediately rejected by PSV.
Roman Abramovich saw this as an opportunity to acquire his services and wasted no time. He more than doubled the offer which Manchester United were paying and acquired the services of Robben for £12m in 2004. He was a key player for Jose Mourinho, helping Chelsea win back-to-back Premier League trophies.
3) Michael Essien
“I like Manchester. I know most of their players and like them and would like to play in the Premier League one day. I like Old Trafford because it one of the nicest stadium in the Europe, and, foremost, I like Coach Sir Alex Ferguson very much. I’ll be happy to play for Manchester United, but at the moment I am in Lyon and I have to concentrate on that.”
These were Michael Essien’s words 5 months before he joined Chelsea for £24m in 2005.
4) John Obi Mikel
This could probably be the best one. The Nigerian midfielder had agreed personal terms with Manchester United, signed a contract and even passed the medical. That’s not all; he was also announced to the public in a home kit in ahead of a move to Old Trafford.
Mikel, then aged 18, went back on his agreement and decided to play for Chelsea. Some days later he was official announced as a Chelsea player. Obviously, Chelsea had to pay £12m as compensation to Manchester United.
John Obi Mikel, in a United Jersey ahead of his move to Old Trafford, before he moved to Chelsea.
5) Florent Malouda
Former Lyon winger was poised to join Liverpool. He had long been linked for a move to the Premier League and it seems like Liverpool was the club.
However, Malouda just couldn’t get a done deal at Anfield. “Rafa Benitez called me several times, a good man, a good trainer but we didn’t manage to find a way to make me join.” This is what the Frenchman said after his move to Liverpool fell out. Chelsea then capitalised on this and quickly signed Malouda for £13m in 2007.
6) Juan Mata
Chelsea hijacked the Spaniard from none other than Arsenal. Wenger would have loved to sign him as he was a perfect fit for the no 10 role; a small and a highly technical player. Arsenal bid £18m for the player, mind it, it was a then club record. Valencia rejected the bid from Arsenal.
Chelsea wasted no time to sign the highly rated midfielder. They bid £23m for the Valencia player which was accepted. It was a good buy for the club as he went on to become Chelsea’s player of the year for 2 years in a row.
7) Willian
Everyone knows about this deal. Willian had passed the medical at the North London club and everything was agreed. Spurs were preparing to make the official announcement in the coming few days.
Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, then placed a personal call to oligarch and Anzhi Makhachkala owner Suleyman Kerimov and beat their North London Rivals to acquire the services of Willian for £30m in 2014. Quite embarrassing.
8) Mohamed Salah
The Egyptian midfielder was linked to a move to the Premier League with lot of clubs interested. Liverpool emerged clear favourites to sign Basel player. However the negotiations between the club and the player went on for a very long time.
“It was a long and a fair negotiation with Liverpool, but lasted for 2 ½ months – too long. Both clubs could not agree on terms. When Chelsea contacted Basel, he was happy and took his chance. It was no financial matter.” said agent Sascha Empacher. Salah became the first Egyptian to sign for the Stamford Bridge club for a fee of £11m in 2014.
However, Salah couldn’t really make an impact while playing and he was loaned to Fiorentina.
9) Pedro
The Barcelona midfielder had fallen down the order below Neymar, Suarez and Messi. He was desperate to leave Barcelona last summer. Manchester United first contacted the player but just couldn’t agree on a deal.
Jose Mourinho, the then Chelsea manager, and former teammate, Fabregas, directly called Pedro and convinced him to join Chelsea. It was not only the player or the manager who had contacted the player. Fabregas’ wife, Daniella Semaan also contacted Pedro’s wife, Caroline Martin, to tell her about the lavish life in London.
Within no time, Pedro was on a flight to have a medical at the Stamford Bridge. United fans were frustrated with Ed Woodward as he had been late in agreeing a fee with Pedro. The Spaniard then joined The Blues for £21m in 2015.
10) Michy Batshuayi
Last but not the least; Chelsea also managed to hijack the player with whom they had hardly been linked with. The player was first set to join Spurs. But then Crystal Palace made a surprise move and had a bid of £33m accepted in the last few days. But after that, they never seemed to get going.
Spurs joined the race again and began negotiations but, out of nowhere, Chelsea’s bid of £33m was accepted and the player also passed medicals. He will be officially announced in the coming few days.
The Belgian footballer comes from the same club where King Drogba came from, Marseille, and people believe he would replicate Drogba. But that time will tell.
Source: DSG
