Pavel Nedved has revealed
that he spurned a multi-million pound offer to join Chelsea in the
summer. The Czech star opted to stay at Juventus despite their
enforced relegation due to match-fixing, whilst watching a number
of high-profile colleagues depart Turin.
Patrick Vieira joined Internazionale, with Fabio Cannavaro, Lilian
Thuram and Gianluca Zambrotta all moving to Spain, but Nedved
snubbed the exodus to help the Bianconeri escape Serie B at the
first time of asking.
Tottenham and Monaco were both linked with moves for the former
Lazio man, but Nedved has now revealed that Premiership champions
Chelsea were also keen to seal his signature.
However, the midfielder turned down the chance to join Michael
Ballack and Andrei Shevchenko in moving to Stamford Bridge, and
Nedved insists he has no regrets about snubbing Roman Abramovich's
advances.
"It's true, I would have earned a lot of money, but something
didn't convince me enough," Nedved told Corriere dello Sport. "I'm
not regretting staying. On the contrary, I would never have
forgiven myself for escaping." Having turned 34 in August, Nedved
is currently approaching the final stages of his illustrious
career, and the Czech schemer admits he is unsure when he will
finally confirm his retirement.
However, the Juve star will play next season, and hopes that his
swansong can take place in Serie A. "I have another year's deal and
I will surely do this," Nedved added. "Then I'll decide if I will
continue, but I won't make predictions.
"I've already been close to hanging up my boots a couple of times,
it's better to live day-by-day. "Serie A is our aim, because
unfortunately there are no others. "I think we will achieve this,
otherwise we will face huge disappointment."
