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Paolo Maldini Reveals How Close He Came To Playing In The Premier League

Paolo Maldini Reveals How Close He Came To Playing In The Premier League

The Italian was a one-club man but things could have turned out differently.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Legendary Italian defender Paolo Maldini, aka the most suave bloke ever to play football, has revealed just how close he came to playing in the Premier League back in the 1990's.

Maldini spent his entire career playing for his beloved Rossoneri in three separate decades, winning a total of 26 major trophies at the San Siro.

He is widely considered to be one of the greatest defenders in football history and he wasn't too far off from playing in the Premier League.

As per the seemingly never-ageing man himself, he had two offers on the table from Premier League sides back in the 90's.

With Milan having a couple of difficult seasons, Chelsea and Arsenal were waiting in the wings but the cultured centre-back says he never wanted to leave Milan.

As quoted by the Daily Express, he said:

"I received two offers in the mid-1990s. One from Chelsea and the other from Arsenal.

"In those years Milan had two seasons with a few problems, but I never intended to leave."

That wasn't the only occasion where an English club were interested in Maldini, as he revealed in an interview with Jamie Carragher a year ago that Chelsea wanted to bring him in as a coach after he retired.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, he said:

"I wasn't ready. I didn't want to move my family to London.

"I went there. I spoke to Mr Abramovich. I spoke to Ray Wilkins, who I had played with at Milan. I don't know. I decided not to do it."

By the time he had retired from football after the 2008/09 campaign, Maldini amassed over 800 appearances for Milan, won seven Serie A titles and 5 European Cups/ Champions League in a 24-year long career in the game.

What a legend.

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Topics: Paolo Maldini