Queens Park Rangers defender Rio Ferdinand has admitted that he had a chance to join Chelsea in 2000 when he was at West Ham United, but turned the Blues down to hook up with Leeds United instead.
The 34-year-old, who came through the ranks at Upton Park, claimed that he needed to leave London for the sake of his career when he was a youngster.
Ferdinand told BBC Radio 1: "I had offers to stay in London to go to Chelsea, but I said I need to leave London first.
"[I needed] to go to Leeds firstly and to get out of London so I don't go to every party I was invited to, because I loved it when I was younger."
Ferdinand spent 18 months at Elland Road before leaving for Manchester United for a then-British record £29.1m.
