The man who has arguably been the most important figure in Manchester City's rapid recent ascendancy to the top of the Premier League is another who came within inches of signing for the Blues. Bids are believed to have been accepted when the player was still learning his trade as a mere 18-year old at Anderlecht. He was considered one of the hottest young prospects around in football when he rejected a contract offer from Chelsea which would have doubled his wages. Showing wisdom beyond his years, Kompany later revealed that while he still had hopes for signing with the Blues at a later date, he saw the club as a 'factory' where his nascent career could have been halted in its tracks without sufficient opportunities for first team football. Kompany went on to sign for Hamburg in Germany, who interestingly enough would later join PSV Eindhoven as one of Chelsea's unofficial feeder clubs across Europe thanks to the contacts of the Blues' Sporting Director Frank Arnesen. Manager Jose Mourinho would instead invest the money earmarked for Kompany in Ricardo Carvalho, who proved an outstanding buy for the club even if one who didn't last quite as long as John Terry's defensive partner as Kompany could have.
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.
