Roman Abramovich made outrageous attempt to sign the greatest player of all time…
It has emerged that Chelsea lodged an astronomical £210m bid for Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi this summer, reports the Express.
Three other clubs were also willing to pay the monstrous release clause, one of which is thought to be Bayern Munich, and made the offers in the transfer window just gone.
Sportswear company Adidas were reportedly willing to stump up half the transfer fee to get the superstar playing for a club they sponsored. Nike currently sponsor Barcelona of course, and use Messi as a figurehead for countless campaigns.
The four time Ballon D’or winner though was not interested in leaving the Catalan giants, and rejected any offers out of hand before discussions even began.
Barcelona are set to offer Messi a £17m per year contract, which will make him the world’s highest paid player once more after Cristiano Ronaldo stole the crown when he signed a bumper new deal at the start of the season.
Messi has already bagged 10 goals this season despite suffering with injury problems. Messi has now scored a ludicrous 324 goals in 389 matches, but could lose his World Player of the Year crown to the impressive Franck Ribery, who helped Bayern Munich secure a treble last season.