Chelsea failed in a late bid to hijack Arsenal's move for Gabriel Jesus, according to the player's agent.
Standard Sport understands Jesus was in the middle of a three-way transfer tussle between Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham.
Spurs eventually turned attention to Richarlison, who they signed for a deal worth up to £60million. Chelsea moved on to Raphinha - also an Arsenal target - only to then see the Brazilian join Barcelona.
That allowed Arsenal to have a free run at Jesus and a £45million deal was soon agreed and completed.
Jesus' agent, Marcelo Pettinati, has now claimed Chelsea reignited their interest in Jesus but it proved too late in the day.
"Chelsea were one of the teams that tried to hijack the Arsenal move," Pettinati is quoted as saying.
"They tried very hard in the final days to get him. By that point, we’d already chosen our new project.”
