Chelsea player reveals strange reason he chose the Blues over Spurs back in 2015

Back in 2015, Chelsea managed to sign the Brazilian teenager, Nathan, from Atletico Paranaense, despite interest from other clubs.

One of the other teams looking to sign the youngster was Tottenham Hotspur, who reportedly even sent him a personalised Spurs shirt signed by fellow Brazilian, Sandro (Boot Room).

Real Madrid were also interested in Nathan, with the player’s father visiting all three stadiums to meet with the clubs ahead of any deal.

Nathan eventually signed a deal worth around £4.5m to move to Stamford Bridge (Guardian), but he gives a rather strange reason for this move.

He claims that he choose the Blues because of their reputation for bringing through young players.

This seems odd as Mauricio Pochettino is far more infamous as Spurs for this, with the likes of Walker-Peters, Skipp, Amos, Parrott, Winks, and more coming through in the past couple of years alone.

Chelsea may now be bringing through youngsters under Frank Lampard, but this is largely down to a transfer ban and a new gaffer.

Fortunately, the failed Nathan bid has not come back to bite Spurs as he is currently out on loan to Atletico Mineiro at age 23 (Wikipedia).

Nathan said (O Tempo’s Super FC): “Tottenham and Real Madrid (approached me). My father went to the Santiago Bernabéu when they were negotiating for James Rodríguez. The two were the main teams along with Chelsea. My father went to the stadiums, talked to the presidents. But we chose Chelsea for the reputation of hiring young players and putting them to play. That motivated me to go there.

“It’s true (Tottenham made me a shirt). Real Madrid also gave me a Cristiano Ronaldo shirt. Tottenham made me one with my name and number 10.”

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