CHELSEA came close to signing Dennis Bergkamp before he joined Arsenal after his agent made enquiries over a move to Stamford Bridge.
That’s according to former Tottenham and Chelsea midfielder Glenn Hoddle.
Bergkamp joined Arsenal from Inter Milan in 1995 for around £8m and went on to become one of the club’s all-time greats.
The Dutchman made over 300 Premier League appearances for the Gunners, winning three Premier League titles and three FA Cups.
But things may have been different for the forward had Chelsea had enough money to sign him at the time.
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Hoddle, who was at Stamford Bridge with Ruud Gullit at the time, claims Bergkamp’s agent contacted Chelsea over the possibility of a move but the west London outfit couldn’t compete with Arsenal financially.
“It was surprisingly easy, the only problem was he [Gullit] wanted to check out the training ground first,” Hoddle told the Daily Mail when discussing Gullit’s move from Sampdoria in 1995.
“I had to pretend it was under summer renovation and he'd need to wear a hard hat, so I suggested we go for lunch down the King's Road instead.
“The funny thing is we might have signed Dennis Bergkamp as well.
“His agent called because Dennis knew about me as a player but in the end Inter wanted £8million.
“That was over the top for us at the time, so he went to Arsenal.”
Bergkamp retired from football in 2006, calling time on his 11-year stay with the Gunners.