The story of how Fabio Cannavaro almost joined Chelsea | OneFootball

We love the “what if” stories in football, and this is a good one.

Fabio Cannavaro has spoken to FourFourTwo about the time he almost came to Chelsea – and as always, one is left wondering what might have happened if he had.

After Juventus were relegated in 2006 following the Calciopoli scandal in Italy, there was an exodus of players from the Italian giants, with Cannavaro one of many stars to leave Turin.

He ended up following his coach Fabio Capello to Real Madrid, but at the time he was apparently very close to coming to Jose Mourinho’s dominant Chelsea:

“In leaving Juventus after the 2006 World Cup, I was very close to joining Chelsea. I had two options, Real Madrid or Chelsea, and I chose Real Madrid in accordance with the club.

“I would’ve loved to play for the Blues, and I was fascinated by the Premier League, although it wasn’t yet the league we all admire today. Arsenal and Manchester United were also very popular back then and I would have strived to play for them.”

It sounds like he simply turned us down for Real Madrid – and you can’t blame him for that. Still, it’s a crying shame that we never got to see a John Terry – Fabio Cannavaro partnership.

On the other hand – that Carvalho (who would also go on to play for Los Blancos) was pretty handy too.