Chelsea were so close to picking up the Brazilian wing-back that the Guardian even ran a story in August 2007 'confirming' that the Sevilla player had signed for the club. According to them, the deal was to be worth roughly £21.5 million - not far off the £23 million which Barcelona paid a year later to secure his signing - and the player had been left out of a Champions League qualifier against AEK Athens to ensure he was not cup-tied ahead of his departure to Stamford Bridge. Interestingly, Alves had almost signed with Liverpool the year before until a mere £8 million fee turned into a stumbling block. Despite having subsequently signed a five year contract, the Brazilian put in a transfer request upon learning of Chelsea's interest. He agreed terms with the London club, but despite the Guardian's reports, Sevilla rejected at least two Chelsea bids due to them being well below the requested fee. The Blues instead signed fellow Brazilian Juliano Belletti, who went on to become quite the cult figure at the club thanks to his long range goals, from Barcelona. Alves would replace him at the Catalan club a year later.
28-year old English writer with a borderline obsessive passion for films, videogames, Chelsea FC, incomprehensible words and indefensible puns. Follow me on Twitter if you like infrequent outbursts of absolute drivel.
