Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich made a stunning attempt to tempt Barcelona star Lionel Messi to London, it has been revealed.TV3 says Chelsea submitted a monster £118m bid for Barcelona star Messi over the summer.

Jose Mourinho tried his luck with a huge offer to lure the Argentinian star to the Premier League.

The formal approach, which equates to €150m, was rejected by the Catalan giants and Messi went on to sign a new deal in May to keep him at the Nou Camp until 2018.

Chelsea raked in around £80m in the last transfer window which would have given the Blues the financial clout to complete the deal.