Patrick van Aanholt has revealed that Chelsea stopped him from joining FC Twente and forced him to move to Vitesse on loan.
Chelsea signed the Dutchman from PSV Eindhoven in 2007 and he had loan spells at a number of clubs before leaving the Blues for Sunderland on a permanent transfer in 2014.
After loan spells at various English clubs, Chelsea were keen to send him out to Europe and Twente were interested in getting their hands on the full-back in 2012.
Van Aanholt had an agreement with the Dutch club and wanted to work under then Twente boss Steve McClaren, but Chelsea had other plans.
Aanholt conceded that he did not enjoy the conversation he had with Michael Emenalo when he was asked to move to Vitesse rather than Twente.
The situation was further aggravated when he struggled to secure game time when he initially arrived at Vitesse.
“Michael Emenalo was the technical director”, the Dutchman told The Athletic.
“I spoke to him a couple of times. I shouted at him! When my loan at Wigan was ended, I had an agreement to go to FC Twente, who were top of the Dutch league.
“Steve McClaren was manager and I wanted to play for him. He wanted me so badly, so I thought ‘Cool!’
“But Michael called me and told me I had to go to Vitesse. I said, ‘No, I don’t want to go to Vitesse; I want to go to FC Twente.’ He said, ‘No, you have to go to Vitesse.’
“I accepted it but then I got there and I didn’t play.”
Van Aanholt has been at Crystal Palace since leaving Sunderland in January 2017.
