Former Benfica striker Óscar Cardozo has revealed he was close to joining Chelsea from the Portuguese club earlier in his career.
The Paraguayan striker became a big hit at the Portuguese giants, spending seven years with the club after arriving in a £10.5m deal from Newell’s in 2007.
He went on to score 172 goals in 293 games for the club, a tally that makes him the top foreign goalscorer in their history and ninth on their list of all-time scorers.
As is usually the case with strikers in Liga Nos, he was regularly linked with a move to the Premier League, with the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea all mentioned.
Ultimately a move never happened, with him ending his spell at Benfica by leaving for Trabzonspor in 2014, before joining Olympiacos and then joining current side Club Libertad Asunción.
Things may have been very different for him, though, with the 37-year-old confirming his last offer came from Chelsea.
“I would have liked to play in the Premier,” he told Futgol 970, relayed by Fox Sports Argentina.
“I always tell my lady, that if I went to the Premier League I would tire of scoring goals.
“Due to a back injury I could not go to Chelsea, they were the last club that was interested in me from the Premier teams.
“And with Manchester, Arsenal, Newcastle they were interested but the presidents did not reach an agreement.”
