Argentina star confirms that Chelsea, Manchester United had interest

Chelsea have been linked to former PSG forward Ezequiel Lavezzi before, but the Argentina man confirmed on Monday that the Blues had legitimate interest. Lavezzi told Canal + (via LES) that he turned down an advance from Chelsea, as well as one from Manchester United, when he decided to take big money and move to China.

"I could have signed for Inter, Chelsea, or Manchester United, but I made the decision to go to China. It's an important choice for my career, I'm sure I'll face many challenges here."

"I like the project to develop this club. It was that which convinced me to come to Hebei, as well as the financial aspect. I'm also fascinated by Chinese culture, so to come and play here is definitely an interesting challenge."

Presumably, Chelsea's offer was not for a January transfer, but a free transfer in the summer. Also, given the fact that Lavezzi is now in his thirties, I'd guess that it was a short-term offer, even if the weekly wage was quite attractive.

Frankly, I'm not at all upset that Ezequiel chose to head to China, as the Blues have no shortage of depth options on the wing already, and this summer should see Chelsea linked to plenty of other options whose best years aren't behind them. Lavezzi on a free wouldn't have been the end of the world by any means, but it would be hard to get any more excited about the move than I did about Pato or Falcao.