Adriano was offered to Chelsea in Lampard swap after furious Mourinho bust-up

Former Brazilian sensation Adriano has now reached the age of 40, but 14 years ago the former Inter Milan star could have joined Chelsea.

The Brazilian was widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the world during the 2000s, but the devastating death of his father sparked a mass decline in form.

Adriano enjoyed his greatest years at Inter, but the Brazilian fell out with Jose Mourinho while 'The Special One' was in charge, and the Portuguese boss attempted to raid former side Chelsea.

Mourinho attempted to send Adriano to Stamford Bridge and sign former star Frank Lampard, although a deal never materialised and the Brazilian headed back home shortly after.

Back in 2008, Lampard was linked with a move away after snubbing a new four-year contract at Stamford Bridge, and the Chelsea man was keen to link up with Mourinho in Italy.

Sources in Italy claimed that Inter had prepared an offer for Chelsea which involved a part-exchange deal of £15million plus the Brazil striker Adriano for Lampard.

Back in 2008, Adriano's former agent, Gilmar Rinaldi told Observer Sport: "Mourinho and Adriano have met and talked, but I can't say how this meeting went.

"'The player is flying back from Rio de Janeiro to Milan next week, as the pre-season starts on Wednesday. I will neither confirm nor deny that he will be exchanged for Lampard."

The move obviously didn't happen, and Lampard went on to become a Chelsea legend, but unfortunately for Adriano, things didn't go so well as he failed to revive his career from 2010.

It was clear that Mourinho and Adriano had fallen out, and their relationship came to an end in 2009, as the Brazilian headed for his homeland and left the club.

Other than a short spell back in Italy with Roma, Adriano stayed in Brazil before hanging up his boots in 2016, ending a career that could have seen so much more success.

His relationship with Mourinho was far from healthy, and the Brazilian revealed that he walked out on the boss at Inter and never returned after international duty.

Adriano told The Players Tribune: "The press were following me everywhere, and everything with Mourinho was, 'F***ing hell! F***ing s***! You’re going to f*** me, aren’t you, boy?'

"I said, 'Oh Lord. Get me out of here'. I just couldn’t cope.

"I got called for the national team, and before I left Mourinho said, 'You’re not coming back, are you?'

"I said, 'You already know it!' One-way ticket, brother."

Adriano played for Flamengo over two spells, Corinthians and Atletico Paranaense in Brazil before calling time on his career prematurely.

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