Brazil legend Cafu lifts the lid on Chelsea’s attempts to sign him in his prime, before double World Cup winner reveals which Premier League side he supports
- Cafu has revealed that Chelsea tried to sign him during his prime
- He has admitted he actually supports another Premier League club
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Two-time World Cup winner Cafu has revealed how close Chelsea came to signing him when he was still in peak form.
Cafu, 54, first won the World Cup with Brazil in 1994 and led his country to victory again eight years later.
The defender played for his club AS Roma when Brazil won their fifth World Cup in Japan in 2002, but things could have turned out very differently.
Cafu has denied that Chelsea wanted to sign him in 2001, after he had just won the Serie A with Roma, but explained that club president Franco Sensi refused to accept the Blues’ offer.
“Chelsea made an official approach but Sensi told them: ‘Forget it – nobody is going to take our boys away from here and we are going to keep this team for a long time,'” Cafu said. FourFourTwo.
Two-time world champion Cafu has revealed Chelsea tried to sign him in 2001
Claudio Ranieri wanted to bring the Brazilian legend to Stamford Bridge in his prime
Cafu felt tempted, but Roma refused to accept Chelsea’s offer and he never played in the Premier League again
‘He always said we were all his children. It would have been a great experience to play in the Premier League – in 2001 it was already one of the biggest leagues at the time – but we couldn’t do a deal.’
Cafu stayed with Roma for two more years before moving to Italian club AC Milan.
He played for Milan for five years, winning the Serie A and the Champions League, before retiring in 2008, having never played in the Premier League.
Just two years before Roman Abramovich took over, Cafu was on the verge of leaving for Claudio Ranieri’s Chelsea, leading to the most successful period in the club’s history.
But the Brazilian legend has admitted he actually supports another Premier League club.
Cafu has admitted he is actually a Liverpool fan, and in 2014 he took a photo with former Reds defender Jon Flanagan – who was once dubbed ‘the next Cafu’
“I still follow the Premier League and I love watching Kevin De Bruyne. He plays with such ease, it’s impressive,” Cafu added.
‘I am a Liverpool fan, I have visited the club a few times and I enjoy their history, their stadium atmosphere, their songs.
‘I even got the chance to meet Jon Flanagan, who was called “the next Cafu”, and we took a picture together. I still remember that day well.’