In an interview with BT Sport Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho reaffirmed the club’s stance on David Luiz and said that the Brazilian won’t be leaving Stamford Bridge.
This comes shortly after freelance sports writer Duncan Castles claimed that the West London club had indeed put a price-tag on the defender and it was up to Barcelona to meet it if they are serious about prising Luiz away from Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho had already stated that there was no chance of Luiz leaving during the US tour, but has rubbished the rumours once again.
The Portuguese manager told BT Sport:
“No chance he is going to leave. He is a player we want to keep. He is a player with four years (on his) contract, he just signed a contract last year.
“We like him. He is an important player and the club is not ready to sell him for any price.”
Mourinho also denied reports that the 26-year-old has asked if he could speak with the Catalan club, saying:
“I don’t know if he said that. What I can say is that he is not going to.
“The last quotes I read were Luiz saying he is not speaking about clubs when he is with the national team, which is a fantastic quote that I appreciate. That is the last quote I have and it is an intelligent one.”
(BT Sport)
Since arriving from Benfica in 2011 Luiz has been capable of both the sublime and the ridiculous, and he has come into a let of criticism from fans and pundits alike for his mad moments, but over the last season he was arguably the most improved player in the squad which deserves a lot of praise.
As it stands he’s the best central defender we have. John Terry has been a rock for Chelsea over the years but all that time playing through injuries is creeping up on him and it’s been difficult for the skipper to maintain a level of fitness over the past 18 months. Then there’s Branislav Ivanovic, who is one of the unlikeliest goal poachers you’ve ever seen and isn’t half bad in his own box either, but he gives away too many free-kicks in dangerous areas and as good a man-to-man marker he is, he just cannot defend the space in behind.
Gary Cahill represents are fourth-choice at centre back and he demonstrated all of his bad habits during the England v Scotland match last night. One of these days he’s going to end up in Petr Cech’s lap with his continuous backing off and it seems to take him a full minute to turn sometimes.
I’m sure that Mourinho can help give Terry a final hurrah as he enters the latter stages of his career and he’ll probably be able to work on Ivanovic’s faults, but he simply cannot afford to lose Luiz at this stage as he’s the only guaranteed starter out of the lot and when he’s used right he offers a lot going forward in that position with his passing range and natural technical ability.
Source: BT Sport
