Chelsea tried to lure Messi from Barca during summer with monster 118 mln-pound bid

Chelsea had reportedly submitted a gigantic 118 million pounds bid for Barcelona's star forward Lionel Messi over the summer.

The mega deal would have been the biggest in football history if it had come off and would have smashed the 86 million pounds world transfer record that Real Madrid paid to Tottenham Hotspur for winger Gareth Bale.

The reports in Spanish media claimed that Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho tried his luck with a huge offer to lure the Argentine to the Premier League. However, the formal approach was rejected by Barca and Messi went on to sign a new deal in May to extend his stay at the Nou Camp until 2018.

Chelsea raked in around 80 million pounds in the last transfer window, which would have given them the financial blow to complete the deal, The Daily Star reported.

It has been reportedly revealed that Mourinho decided the time was right to try and persuade Messi to leave Barca after the forward suffered the most challenging season of his career, having endured a string of injuries and was even the subject of abuse from some of his own fans for what they considered to be a below-par season.

This isn't the first time Messi has been linked with a move away from Barca, the report added.