Midfield ace comes clean on Stamford Bridge snub.
Marseille star Giannelli Imbula has said that he rejected a move to Chelsea in 2013 as the Blues wanted to loan him out for as long as five years, the Daily Express reports.
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The 22-year-old has gone on to impress with Marseille in Ligue 1 and has once again attracted interest from the Stamford Bridge outfit, not to mention Arsenal.
And Chelsea could have snapped him up had they not been so insistent on the path they wanted his career to take.
The player’s agent and father, Willy Ndangi said: “You know how much I refused from Chelsea? A million euros (£800,000).
“About a month before Giannelli signed with Marseille, I had a meeting with a Chelsea official.
“But their people wanted a stranglehold on the player for five years.
“They wanted to put in place a sort of masked ownership.
“The youngster would have to have been willing to go left, right, to Turkey or who knows where.
“Like the system in place with Kondogbia, Mangala and all those others.
“The footballer must be free and have control over his career and salary.
“I did not want Giannelli to have a leash around his neck.”
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