Chelsea: West Ham star Edson Alvarez was 'an hour away' from joining Blues

West Ham star Edson Alvarez has revealed Ajax blocked a move to Chelsea a year before he joined the Hammers.

Alvarez has been one of the standout stars for West Ham this season, signed to fill the void created by Declan Rice's £105million move to Arsenal last summer.

But it was west London, not east, where the Mexico international could be plying his trade if he got his wish in the summer of 2022, revealing he was “an hour away from getting on the plane.”

"Actually, in year three [at Ajax], I had to go to Chelsea, the plane was waiting for me at the airport. When Ajax told me you know what: ‘you’re not going’,” he told Burro Van Rankin’s podcast for Caliente TV, via SportWitness.

"Whether people believe it or not, it doesn’t make any difference to me, I’m the one who is here and the one who is living it.

"I was an hour away from getting on the plane and going to sign for Chelsea and Ajax told me: ‘you’re not going’. So, you’re not leaving, what do you do? There’s no way you’re leaving.”