I was one hour away from Chelsea transfer before deal was called off

Edson Alvarez disclosed that he came close to joining Chelsea before eventually signing for West Ham United.

The Mexico international revealed he was at one stage airport-bound to finalise the transfer before his former employers pulled the plug at the eleventh hour. Alvarez instead completed a £35million switch from Ajax to the Irons a year later than the planned Premier League switch.

After playing 73 times for them this summer across two seasons, the midfielder signed for Fenerbahce on a season-long loan last month. But it all could have been so different if Alvarez had first moved to the Blues.

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"In year three [at Ajax], I had to go to Chelsea," Alvarez told Caliente TV last summer, "the plane was waiting for me at the airport - then Ajax told me, 'You know what: you're not going'.

"Whether people believe it or not, it doesn't make any difference to me; I'm the one who is here and the one who is living it. I was an hour away from getting on the plane and going to sign for Chelsea.

"Ajax told me: 'You're not going'. So, you're not leaving, what do you do? There's no way you're leaving."

West Ham, however, made no such U-Turn with Alvarez this summer. Fenerbahce also have an option to sign the player permanently this summer.

Alvarez said after signing, "First of all, thank you. The interest from both the club and the fans over the past few days has been incredible.

"I knew Fenerbahce was a huge club before coming here, but from the first moment I arrived, I saw that Fenerbahce is much bigger than I thought.

“I’m very happy to be here. I want to train with my team as soon as possible, meet our fans in our stadium, and play in front of them.”

“I’ve heard a lot of good things about Fenerbahce fans. I compare them to Mexicans.

"They’re very passionate and give everything for their team. As a Fenerbahce player, I will show all my quality on the field and give my all.”