Current Juventus midfielder Andrea Pirlo has revealed that he almost joined Chelsea from AC Milan in the summer of 2009 but was prevented from doing so by owner Silvio Berlusconi.
Pirlo had been keen to link up with Carlo Ancelotti who left the Rossoneri for the London club at the same time.
“It was August 2009 and I’d reached agreement with Chelsea, the club where Ancelotti had just came in as manager,” disclosed Pirlo in his autobiography ‘I Think Therefore I Play’ which has been published in English for the first time.
“Carlo was like a father and a teacher for me, a kind, friendly man who knew how to make things fun.
“Ancelotti was my motivation for agreeing to head to London.
“But, in the meantime, Berlusconi had pulled out a second piece of paper.
“This time there were loads of names with ticks next to them, and one that had been circled.
“Stay. We’ve signed Huntelaar,” read the circled name.
“Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is an excellent player,” continued Pirlo.
“He knows how to score goals, loads of goals and, at that point in time, he was playing for Real Madrid but he’s not the type of guy who’s going to win the Ballon d’Or.”
Pirlo also opened up about what Berlusconi said as he tried to persuade the midfielder to stay at San Siro:
“‘Listen, Andrea, you just can’t do this, damn it. You’re the symbol of Milan, a standard bearer for this team, and we’ve already sold Kaka.
“You can’t jump ship as well. It’d be a terrible blow, to our image as much as anything. We can’t have everyone leaving.”
Pirlo added that the deal was also thwarted by Milan asking for too much money and Branislav Ivanovic to be included in a part-exchange and Chelsea had no intention of letting the Serbian defender go.
The 34-year-old announced his respect for Berlusoni’s abilities as president and his success at preventing the move to Stamford Bridge:
“As it turned out, I moved to Juventus. That’s Berlusconi all over, though.
“He’s theatrical and knows exactly what he wants.
“It’s what makes him such a fantastic president and lover of pure, beautiful football.”
