Chelsea offered RIDICULOUS swap deal for €150million player

Tom Weber

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:37 CDT
• 3 min read

Chelsea offered two transfer flops to AC Milan in exchange for Rafael Leao last summer, a report by The Athletic claims.

The Blues have experienced a dramatic first full season under the Todd Boehly regime. Despite spending north of €600 million on transfers this term, Chelsea, now coached by interim boss Frank Lampard following two coaching dismissals, have no Champions League football to look forward to next season.

Their transfer business has been erratic, uncoordinated and, ultimately, incredibly unsuccessful, leaving them with a bloated squad and little room to manoeuvre this summer as they will be forced to adopt a one in, one out policy.

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That said, this Chelsea team could look a lot different right now had a crazy proposal for a swap deal been accepted by AC Milan last summer.

Pulisic and Ziyech for Leao

According to The Athletic, AC Milan rejected Chelsea's advances for Portuguese star Rafael Leao last summer, with the Blues even being prepared to offer transfer flops Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech in a swap deal.

Chelsea believed that the two were worth a combined €100m, but the Italian side were having none of it, confident that their mercurial attacker would eventually put pen to paper on a new deal and that he was worth at least €150m.

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Milan sporting director Paolo Maldini previously confirmed Chelsea's advances, telling ESPN: "Rafa knows that to become stronger than now the solution is to stay with us. Chelsea's officially written offer did not arrive but on an informal level it did. Of course, it was rejected."

The Blues, as well as other clubs, remain interested in the 23-year-old, but the release clause of €175m inserted in his new contract will likely deter most sides, including Chelsea, who could be butting up against Financial Fair Play regulations following this season's spending spree.