10 Footballers Who Rejected Chelsea

Any Premier League fan in the mid-2000s will likely remember the 'will he, won't he' saga of Chelsea's persistent attempts to lure Steven Gerrard away from his native Merseyside to Stamford Bridge.

In fact, arguably the closest the potential transfer ever came to actually taking place was in the summer of 2005, just weeks after Gerrard had led Liverpool to the most improbable of Champions League wins. After contract negotiations had gone awry Gerrard handed in a transfer request at his boyhood club, and the footballing world held its breath when it was announced that Chelsea had tabled a £32million bid for the midfielder.

The prospect of losing their star player forced Liverpool to offer Gerrard a new contract, who ultimately decided to stay put and play out the remainder of his English footballing careers with the Reds.

Then again, with successive England managers failing to find a system to best utilise the immense talents of Gerrard and Frank Lampard together it was perhaps a blessing in disguise that the current Rangers boss didn't make the switch.