Pavel Nedved says he spurned a lucrative offer to join Chelsea in the summer.
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."
