Former Tottenham manager Juande Ramos rejected the opportunity to succeed Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, friend and former colleague Marcos Alvarez has told Spanish radio station Canal Sur.
Mourinho departed as Chelsea manager for the second time in December after the champions suffered a disastrous slump in form.
Reports at the time suggested Ramos was being considered, before Guus Hiddink was appointed for a second interim spell in charge at Stamford Bridge.
Alvarez -- who worked with Ramos at Tottenham, Real Madrid, CSKA Moscow and Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk before taking up a post with Argentine giants San Lorenzo -- claimed his former colleague would have become Chelsea boss had it not been for disagreement over key details.
"Juande had an offer from Chelsea," Alvarez said. "It is complicated to say no to a club like that, but he put conditions on the table to get the project under way and at the end there was no agreement. He has very clear ideas."
Alvarez said Ramos was not keen to repeat his experience of managing Real Madrid on a caretaker basis in 2008-09, when he won 18 of 27 matches but found himself replaced by Manuel Pellegrini.
"His thinking is not just about going to an elite club that plays in the Champions League," Alvarez added.
"He wants to enjoy his profession in an interesting place with a proper project. We already had the experience of Real Madrid and he did not want to go through the same again, with a club where there are no guarantees of continuing even if you do a good job."
Hiddink's contract as Chelsea manager expires in the summer, and Pep Guardiola, Diego Simeone and Antonio Conte are all reportedly in contention to become the next permanent boss.