Roman Abramovich’s former right-hand man at Chelsea reveals the player he failed to sign, ‘we were annoyed’…

Add as preferred source on Google

Former Chelsea CEO Peter Kenyon has shared the transfer target who he was unable to secure during his time at Stamford Bridge.

There has been a lot of reminiscing amongst certain sections of the fanbase lately about how the club used to operate when Roman Abramovich was owner of the club.

The ruthlessness and desire to win is something many have criticised as missing in the current regime. Protests were aimed at Todd Boehly before their last game against Southampton.

Kenyon played a key role in bringing in plenty of big names during his time at Stamford Bridge between 2003 and 2009.

Kenyon secured Michael Essien as a new signing back in 2006, with him describing that deal as the hardest one he ever confirmed.

He also played a role in who was hired as the Chelsea manager during this period of time, with that proving a busier task then it would at most other clubs.

Kenyon’s hiring of Jose Mourinho was inspired by the success of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, the club he worked for before moving to West London.

Not every negotiation was successful though, and this proved the case in Chelsea’s efforts to sign Robinho back in 2008.

The Brazilian had established himself as one of the top wingers in European football during his time at Real Madrid, and a moved to Stamford Bridge looked a formality.

Kenyon shared that he was disappointed to miss out on the signing, after a lot of effort was put in to get the deal over the line.

He said to ‘Business of Sport’: “Probably the Brazilian who thought he was coming to Chelsea and finished up going to Man City. He thought City was in London. You’ve got to be like: ‘It is what it is’.

“We were annoyed because you put a lot of effort into these things. You’re not playing [Football] Manager. They take a lot of planning, there are a lot of moving parts. It was a lost opportunity.”

Chelsea dodged bullet with Robinho

Despite an excellent first season in English football, things did not last long for Robinho in the Premier League.

The winger himself stated that he had a huge argument with teammate at the time Craig Bellamy, where he needed to be held back in his confrontations.

He told Manchester Evening News: “I had a fight with him once, but then who at City didn’t?” he said.

“Some other players had problems with Bellamy, too; he was very explosive. In one game we played against Arsenal, I didn’t have a great first half so he started yelling at me in English when we got back to the dressing room at half-time.

“I didn’t understand it, but from the little I could work out, I could tell he wasn’t saying nice things.mGlauber [the Brazilian centre-back who made one City appearance] then helped me by pushing him away, and he quickly calmed down.

“I had just come back from a marathon of a journey to play for Brazil and I was feeling very tired. But it was OK, and he came to me the next day and asked me to forgive him.”

With Chelsea pushing for Premier League titles at this stage, they could not afford to have luxury players who weren’t committed to the cause, and Robinho could have easily fallen into this category.