Brazilian left-back Filipe Luís has revealed he had talks with Manchester City regarding a transfer to the Premier League champions this summer.
In an interview with Esporte Espetacular, the 34-year-old claimed that many clubs tried to sign him, but he ended up choosing to return to his home country and join Flamengo.
“At the last moment I had three or four proposals in hand, and then you choose,” Filipe Luís told Esporte Espetacular.
“Nowadays I see any club and say that they called me, the director of that one… It’s a long list. There is this club, but they can’t pay what you earn, this other don’t want to be champions, but then bye. So, a lot of things are happening and at the last minute I closed some important doors, like Borussia, which was a very good offer, but I didn’t feel my heart, even though they have the same thing with the fans, but I didn’t feel that passion to say ‘I want to go to Borussia’.
“From January until March I had Manchester City, but it didn’t work out. There was a call from Juninho Pernambucano at Lyon, but I said I would only answer after the Copa America and they ended up signing a fullback. There was Turkey, China and several countries that called, but none of them filled the heart at that time.”
Filipe Luís’ words make it sound like he’s rejected many sides, but especially in Manchester City’s case, things could’ve been different in case the club showed a bigger interest in signing him.
The left-back had a short spell in the Premier League, and then moved to Atletico Madrid from Chelsea in 2014.
The player has joined the most starred-studded squad in Brazil. In the same summer, Flamengo also signed Rafinha from Bayern Munich, as well as Portuguese manager Jorge Jesus.
