10 Footballers Who Rejected Chelsea
2. Neymar
With a sum the size of a small country's GDP being required to sign Neymar these days, it's easy to forget that Chelsea came agonisingly close to bringing the Brazilian in before he had ever made footballing headlines worldwide.
As a teenager with an impressive goal record in his debut season as a professional for Santos, Neymar caught the eye of the then-Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti who tabled an impressive bid in the hopes of bringing the Brazilian to the UK.
Though the deal would eventually fall through, Neymar would later detail the experience in his autobiography, explaining that Brazilian football icon Pele got in touch and implored him to stay in his native country and build up his legacy before making a big-money move abroad.
Much to the chagrin of the Stamford Bridge faithful, Neymar would take Pele's advice staying at Santos for a further three years before moving to Barcelona in 2013.