The veteran Brazil left-back was a wanted man after his contract at Atletico Madrid ended, and he could have returned to the Premier League
Filipe Luis claims he had the chance to join Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund or Paris Saint-Germain this year before opting to return home to Brazil with Flamengo.
“From January until March I had an offer from Manchester City, but it didn’t work out,” Luis told Globo Esporte .
“There was a call from Juninho Pernambucano to go to Lyon, but I said I could only give an answer after the Copa America and they ended up signing someone else.
“There was Turkey, China, a number of countries that called, but none of them felt right in my heart at the time.”
Luis, 34, says he was at one point close to joining PSG, and that he seriously considered another offer from Bundesliga title contenders Dortmund.
“I had a contract with Atletico and an absurd offer came in [from PSG], one that I couldn’t refuse,” he said.
“I went to Atletico and said ‘if you let me leave, I’d appreciate it’, especially because Gabi had just left. But they said no, it was impossible for me to leave because they would have to sign another left-back and there wasn’t enough time for that.
“I didn’t want to fight with Atletico, though, and in the end it didn’t go ahead, but the offer was there and I was close.
“In the end I had three or four proposals to consider, and then you have to choose. But I see that one club calls me, then the director of another one… it’s a long list. There’s this club but it can’t afford my wages, then another one but it doesn’t want to be champion, so bye!
“So, a lot of things were happening and in the end I closed some important doors, like Borussia. It was a very good offer, but I didn’t feel it in my heart. Even though I had the same thing with the fans (a good relationship with Flamengo’s), I didn’t feel that passion to say, ‘I want to go to Borussia’.”