#3 Steven Gerrard to Chelsea
Steven Gerrard called quits to a stellar career recently, while he would have loved to probably have done it while he was at Liverpool, one got the sense that he was thoroughly satisfied with a career that spanned nearly 2 decades. He had long since cemented his place as a legend in Liverpool folklore and will go down as one of their greatest ever players.
Back in 2004, Mourinho and Chelsea were hell-bent on establishing a partnership of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard in midfield and lodged a £20 million offer for the Liverpool captain. Gerrard was apparently keen on the move, texting Mourinho that he was moving to Stamford Bridge. Only an intervention from his dad saw the deal fall through and the Liverpudlian famously went on to win the Champions League that season, at the expense of Chelsea in the semi-finals.
A year later, Chelsea were back with a £32 million bid, Gerrard had agreed terms, only to change his mind at the last moment and sign a new deal at Liverpool. The rest, as they say, is history.
While it is difficult to envisage how a career at Chelsea could have panned out, the England national team has shown that shoehorning both Lampard and Gerrard into midfield may not be the best idea, with both of them being too similar to one another.
He may have been able to claim the elusive Premier League medal he’s always pined for, but Chelsea would probably have never gone on to sign Michael Ballack, who had some success with the Blues.