Former Chelsea transfer target Jonathan Clauss has explained why he snubbed a move to Stamford Bridge in the summer. The 29-year-old defender was heavily linked with a move to west London as the Blues looked to find backup for Reece James, who suffered several knocks towards the end of the season.
According to reports, Chelsea were interested in signing the right-back to bolster the club's defensive options. It's believed that the Blues had been monitoring his performances in Ligue 1 as he began to make a name for himself in the French top-flight.
In the season which courted Chelsea's attention, Clauss featured 37 times for RC Lens and directly contributed towards 16 goals. His impressive displays helped steer the club towards a European qualification place, though they just missed out.
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However, despite the west Londoners' interest, the France international opted to join Marseille instead. And, in an interview with Info Sport, as quoted by Sport Witness, Clauss explained exactly why.
"I didn’t want to sign for Chelsea to one day say, 'I signed for Chelsea'," he said. "It was really to try and keep playing, to discover the Champions League. Marseille ticked all the boxes I was looking for."
Clauss' decision to turn his nose up at Chelsea came as a shock seeing as the defender had previously admitted to be a Blues fan when growing up. During an interview with RMC Sport in May, he said: "Since I was a kid, it’s Chelsea and it remains Chelsea [the team I dream about playing for]."
In the summer, the Blues went on to not sign a right-back to deputise James. Instead, Todd Boehly signed a left-back in Marc Cucurella as well as six other players which total in the region of £270million.
Now, the American billionaire is in the market for a sporting director to lead the club's transfer business. Paris Saint-Germain advisor Luis Campos and former Liverpool director Michael Edwards are both said to have been in the running, with RB Salzburg chief Christoph Freund also snubbing a move to west London.
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