Chelsea submitted a £51 million bid for Edson Alvarez one year before the former Ajax midfielder finally moved to the Premier League with London neighbours West Ham United.
That is according to Nathan van Kooperen, the Mexico international’s representative.
And, for the most part, Edson Alvarez has proven to be excellent value for money in a claret-and-blue shirt, West Ham United eventually parting with around £15 million less than those from down the road at Stamford Bridge were willing to pay 12 months prior.
OK, yes, Alvarez played his part in that dismal 6-0 dismantling by Arsenal on Sunday. But the powerhouse midfielder has had far more good games than bad ones under David Moyes, his broad-shouldered muscle and ball-winning prowess sorely lacking in a Chelsea team still on a negative goal difference after conceding 39 goals in 23 matches.
West Ham’s Edson Alvarez was a Chelsea target
“Chelsea wanted to go very far,” Van Kooperen tells ESPN, Todd Boehly trying and failing to make Alvarez another mega-money acquisition during the summer of 2023.
“They wanted to do everything they could to bring him to Chelsea. Ajax just had no replacement ready, so they did not want to cooperate. They thought (securing) Champions League football was very important.
“(Chelsea) went up to sixty million euros.”
26-year-old Alvarez confirmed that he was also a ‘very concrete’ target for German giants Borussia Dortmund before putting pen to paper on a long-term contract with The Hammers. Averaging 2.6 tackles per game, he is now amongst the Premier League’s most effective defensive midfielders, even if he did resemble a man drowning in a tidal wave of Arsenal attacks during a performance which had West Ham fans flooding out of the exits before the half-time whistle rang around a cavernous London Stadium on Sunday (WhoScored).
£35 million well spent by The Hammers
“Edson Alvarez adapted very quickly,” Jaime Lozano, his coach for the Mexican national team, tells Marca. “He quickly consolidated himself in a totally different system.
“Te truth is, I did not expect it. Especially because we talked about him coming from a league like the Eredivisie. His growth is admirable.”
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