Tottenham forward Richarlison has confirmed that Chelsea did table a bid for him before he joined their London rivals in the summer.

The Brazilian international says both the Blues and Arsenal were interested in securing his services but he opted to make the switch to Spurs after they offered £60m:

“I know Chelsea made an offer, and I believe Arsenal also contacted Everton to ask about my situation, but Spurs came in and paid the fee, you know? It’s as simple as that. Everton had to sell some players to avoid a Financial Fair Play problem, and the negotiations were very brief, to be honest. I signed the contract during my holiday in the Pantanal [a remote region of Brazil].”

It has been suggested that Tottenham’s decision to shell out a club-record transfer fee on Richarlison was prompted by late interest from Chelsea and the player has pretty much confirmed the rumours.

With the Blues also failing to sign Richarlison’s international teammate Raphinha, who opted to join Barcelona instead, the London club didn’t manage to strengthen their frontline as much as they would have liked.

Raheem Sterling had moved from Manchester City earlier in the transfer window but the only other forward who arrived before deadline day was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. It’s an area of the pitch that will likely be looked at again in the New Year.