Chelsea knew that, in order to break into the Champions League at the turn of the Millennium, players with serious quality and pedigree were needed. Under the management of Claudio Ranieri, the club turned to Brazil legend Cafu, though getting him out of Roma proved a tough task.
In his early 30s at the time, Cafu had just finished 2000/01 having won Serie A with Roma. At the end of the season, his fourth in Italy, he had an important decision to make: stay at Roma or accept an offer from Chelsea.
As tempted as the Brazilian was by a move to Stamford Bridge, Roma president Franco Sensi didn’t allow him to join Frank Lampard, William Gallas, Emmanuel Petit and Boudewijn Zenden in being recruited by Claudio Ranieri that summer.
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“Chelsea made an official approach, but Sensi told them, ‘Forget about it – nobody takes our boys from here and we are going to keep this team for a long time’,” Cafu recalls exclusively to FourFourTwo.
“He used to say that we were all his children. It would have been a nice experience to play in the Premier League – in 2001 it was already one of the biggest leagues at the time – but we couldn’t reach a deal."
Instead, Chelsea had to rely on Mario Melchiot and Albert Ferrer to play at right-back for the next couple of seasons, while Cafu joined Milan in 2003, signing for the Italian giants on a free transfer after turning down an approach from Yokohama F Marinos. There he won the Champions League in 2007, beating Liverpool - a club he admits to supporting.
While discussing the Reds and Premier League football, Cafu also touches on the comparisons one Liverpool defender started receiving in 2013, highlighting his impeccable memory.
“I still follow the Premier League and I love watching Kevin De Bruyne – he plays with such ease, it’s impressive," Cafu says.
"I’m a Liverpool fan, though," he admits. "I’ve visited the club a few times and I enjoy their history, their stadium atmosphere, their songs. I even got the chance to meet Jon Flanagan, who was dubbed ‘the next Cafu’, and we took a picture together. I still remember that day.”
Cafu remains an omnipresent figure in football through numerous projects, the latest being Makakooo, a clothing brand launched with the mission of fighting racism in Brazil and around the world. Macaco is the Portuguese word for monkey.
“Thankfully I’ve never suffered racism in football, but the issue is there and it’s up to us to do something about it,” he explains. “That’s a matter of education. A child isn’t born a racist, saying people are different from others – they repeat what they hear.
“That’s a society problem, but what happens in a stadium has 10 times bigger repercussions. We have a voice that is respected in football, so with this brand our goal is to say ‘no’ to racism and show we’re all equals. Fifteen per cent of our sales will be donated to organisations in Brazil, Colombia and Ghana.”
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