Inter Milan defender Lucio admits he could easily have been an AS Roma player.
Roma are looming as Inter's biggest threat to their Scudetto crown for the coming season.
Lucio revealed: "In the summer of 2003 it was almost a done deal. Roma had already signed the contracts with Bayer Leverkusen, but there was no agreement with me.
"Everyone assumed I would accept and the director of sport at the time, Franco Baldini, announced the deal before even speaking to me.
"When we did meet up, Roma had offered less money than I earned at Leverkusen. I could not accept."
