10 Players You Didn't Know Real Madrid Almost Signed

10. Ramires

His importance often undermined in the shadow of the individual brilliance of Eden Hazard, Oscar and Willian, make no mistake about it €“ Ramires has long been one of Chelsea€™s most important and valuable players at their disposal. Possessing lung-busting capabilities and a powerful physique, the Brazilian international can provide width, dynamism and stringent defensive duties. Possessing all the elements of a reliable €˜Mourinho player€™, it was no surprise that the Portuguese mastermind entrusted him with 30 league appearances last season €“ which would have been more had he not had to serve a dual suspension. Therefore, it will come as no shock to the system at all to learn that Mourinho was sniffing around the former Benfica lynchpin whilst steering the most powerful ship on the footballing planet, in the summer of 2012. A robust and tough-tackling midfielder, the Brazilian was never going to be one set the pulses racing at the Santiago Bernabeu, or have thousands filling the stadium for his unveiling, in the same vein as some of the recent Galacticos. But what he would have provided was a much-needed stability €“ something the Madrid sides throughout the 00s seemed to have lacked as they threw money at the latest big-name striker. Just this summer, however, Madrid returned for Ramires. With Mourinho having been rebuffed by his old club in the wake of their Champions League exploits in the summer of 2012, two years later it was his turn to issue the €˜hands-off€™ warning to the Madridistas. With former Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti plotting a £25 million for the Champions League medallist, Mourinho was adamant that he would be going nowhere.

''There is no price for Ramires in the market. The interest doesn€™t annoy me, but on behalf of Chelsea, there€™s no price for a club wanting to buy Ramires. If it€™s true or not, it€™s not important. There€™s no price.€™€™ €“ Jose Mourinho, June 2014.