Chelsea lost out on Leicester City star Adrien Silva when the Blues made a move for him under Jose Mourinho in 2005.
The midfielder decided against moving to Stamford Bridge when Mourinho was assembling the top stars in his first reign at the club. The Portuguese was building a top squad at the club and thought of Silva to come in and beef up what would be a strong academy at the time. The 15-year old was advised not to.
The Stamford Bridge scout party made trips to Portugal to to scout the youngster at Sporting CP after Mourinho had identified him as one for the future.
However, despite the lure of working under one of the most successful managers from his native country, Silva took the tough decision not to move to London.
He feared his career would be stunted after moving to join the likes of Frank Lampard, Michael Essien and Claude Makelele.
“Thanks to God. It was a very strange moment and I was so young. To have this club approach me, especially when Mourinho comes to talk to you … at this time, we didn’t know why he came. But when the club wants something, they do everything.
“He came to see me in Portugal and we went there, to Chelsea, to see the training ground. Then we came back and it was a big, big situation with Sporting.”
Adrien Silva, Guardian
