Boca Juniors veteran forward Carlos Tevez has revealed he received a call from Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte offering him a place in the London football club.
Tevez confirmed that Conte, his former coach in Juventus, offered him a route back to Europe but after considering retirement he has now decided to play on for Boca, his boyhood club.
"I was driving with all my family in the car. It was crazy. He said that he needed a forward and asked if I would like to play for Chelsea," the 32-year-old was quoted as saying by Ecuador's Radio La Red on Wednesday.
"He said 'come with us, let's fight together in this tournament and win the Premier League. We need someone like you to be a leader'. But I told him that I can't leave Boca like this," said Tevez, who played for Manchester City, Manchester United, West Ham United and Corinthians before Conte signed him in 2013 at Juventus.
Recently, Tevez had hoped to win a second Copa Libertadores crown with Boca but suffered defeat in the semi-finals at the hands of Independiente del Valle.
He had been pondering retirement after the loss but decided to carry on.
"It's true, I thought about stopping playing. I was in bad shape, beat up, and that is why I asked for a period of leave. Two days after elimination I started training again at Boca and I thought the blow would have passed. But it hadn't.
"I was annoyed, demotivated, I did not want to be here and I asked Boca coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto for leave."
--IANS
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