"Was not convinced about moving to Stamford Bridge" - Fabrizio Romano explains why 20-year-old star rejected Chelsea move

Journalist Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Denmark striker, Conrad Harder, rejected a move to Chelsea in the summer as he was not convinced about how much time he would get on the pitch.

Chelsea wanted to sign Harder in the final days of the summer window after Liam Delap suffered a hamstring injury. The striker opted against the move and instead moved to RB Leipzig, where he replaced Benjamin Sesko, who had moved to Manchester United in the summer.

Romano has now written about Chelsea's failed move to sign Harder in his Give Me Sport column, explaining the striker's decision. He saw more opportunity at the Bundesliga club, who had also sold Xavi Simons to Tottenham and loaned out Lois Openda to Juventus. He wrote:

"Harder was not convinced about moving to Stamford Bridge. Even with maximum respect for Chelsea and their project, Harder felt that a move to the Blues was probably going to end up with him sitting on the bench in the upcoming weeks, after Delap’s return. Harder wanted to move in order to play, be a starter, find more game time, and feel like an important player and not just a backup for a few weeks.

"This is why he turned down the possibility of negotiating with Chelsea in order to join RB Leipzig; where Xavi Simons, Benjamin Sesko and Lois Openda all left the club, and he can have the chance to play and develop. Something new in the football world, but Harder had clear ideas."

AC Milan also tried to sign Conrad Harder on deadline day. The Serie A side had a €24 million plus €3 million offer accepted, but they failed to agree personal terms with the Danish striker.

Chelsea target almost had his RB Leipzig move collapse

Conrad Harder spoke to Viaplay Sport News earlier this week and admitted that his move from Sporting CP to RB Leipzig was on the verge of collapsing due to difficulties in completing the paperwork. The striker's move to the Bundesliga side was completed with just minutes left in the window, and he recalled:

"It was hectic and not fun at the end. It was all the way down to being 15 seconds from falling through, but a divine intervention came through for me in the end. It was wild. I think some negotiations had to be put in place, and then some papers had to be sent in. There was a system failure, which took some extra minutes."

Chelsea ended up bringing back Marc Guiu from his loan at Sunderland, after Niclas Jackson forced through his loan move to Bayern Munich, with the German side paying an extra €1.5 million in loan fee and agreeing a €65 million obligation to buy next summer.