Latest Chelsea transfer news and gossip as West Ham midfielder Edson Alvarez reveals that he was close to moving to Stamford Bridge before his £35m move to the Hammers
Edson Alvarez, a midfielder for West Ham, disclosed how close he was to joining Chelsea while at Ajax.
Alvarez was acquired by the Hammers from Ajax last summer at a reported £35 million. David Moyes needed to bolster his alternatives in the midfield after West Ham sold Declan Rice to Arsenal for a £105 million fee. This prompted the move for Alvarez.
Since then, Alvarez has made 35 appearances for West Ham in his first season of English football. In addition, the 26-year-old has scored twice—once in the Premier League and once in the Europa League.
However, as Alvarez tells it, things could have gone very differently. The Mexico international has claimed that he was close to signing for Chelsea months before he joined West Ham.
According to Alvarez, he was “one hour away” from boarding the aircraft that would take him to Chelsea to sign a contract. He does, however, assert that Ajax made the last-minute decision not to leave the club.
“In reality, I had to travel to Chelsea during my third year at Ajax; the plane was waiting for me at the airport,” Alvarez stated in a Caliente TV interview. “You know what, Ajax told me you weren’t going.
“Whether people believe it or not, it doesn’t make any difference to me, I’m the one who is here and the one who is living it.
“I was an hour away from getting on the plane and going to sign for Chelsea and Ajax told me: ‘You’re not going’. So, you’re not leaving, what do you do? There’s no way you’re leaving.”
Chelsea have significantly revamped their midfield options over the last couple of years. Enzo Fernandez, Moises Caicedo, Cole Palmer Romeo Lavia, Lesley Ugochukwu, Carney Chukwuemeka and Cesare Casadei have all been signed in the Todd Boehly reign at Stamford Bridge throughout the last few transfer windows.
