Cannavaro says that he almost joined the Blues

former defender

Fabio Cannavaro

says that he almost joined

after winning the 2006 World Cup, but eventually he moved to

after experiencing a spell in

after his move from Inter in 2004, which ended with the Calciopoli scandal’s aftermath and Juventus’ relegation to the Serie B.

Following his impressive performance in the World Cup, many clubs were looking to sign the center-back who was 32 years old at the time, but Real Madrid won the race and signed the high-profile defender with a €7m deal the Blues, however, were the closest team to Real Madrid according to Cannavaro who says that although he knew about the Blues’ interest in him, he preferred to work with

Fabio Capello

at Real Madrid.

"I was close to signing [for Chelsea] when I was at Juventus,"

Cannavaro told The Telegraph.

"A friend of mine called me and asked me if I would go to Chelsea.

"I knew they were interested but in the end I moved to Madrid, and of course Fabio Capello was there."

After making that big decision, Cannavaro made 118 appearances for Real Madrid in three years before returning to Juventus as a free agent.

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