Chelsea may have to brace themselves for a triple raid on their players in January as interested clubs have been encouraged by the lack of playing time Demba Ba, David Luiz and Juan Mata have been afforded.
Having already spoken at length about Mata’s link with Paris Saint-Germain here I won’t go into to much detail on that one but the Express report that Barcelona may come back in for David Luiz whilst Arsenal may have another crack at signing Demba Ba, who was allegedly moments away from going to the Emirates Stadium before Chelsea pulled the plug following the Gunners’ signing of Mesut Ozil.
There has been a few stories flying around about David Luiz and even rumours that some of his team-mates at Stamford Bridge have grown tired of his lackadaisical defending whilst others have questioned his attitude. The 26-year-old’s head definitely isn’t right at the moment as the improvement and form he was showing last season seems to be deserting him.
He has made a number of blunders already this season and although he’s used to being criticised for his style it would seem as though being publicly scrutinised by his own manager has gotten to him as he doesn’t look all that happy these days. John Terry has re-established himself as Chelsea’s first-choice defender whilst there’s talk of Jose Mourinho looking at the likes of Eric Mangala, so perhaps there’s something in the links with Luiz to the Camp Nou as Carlos Puyol’s long-term successor.
Demba Ba has played seven times this season and is definitely behind both Fernando Torres and Samuel Eto’o in the pecking order whilst it wouldn’t be wholly surprising if Mourinho decides he’s had enough of them by January and brings in another new forward, so I wouldn’t be shocked to see Ba leave Stamford Bridge by then. I don’t think he’ll be heading to Arsenal though as the Blues would be much keener selling him abroad and it seems as though there’s interest there with Valencia and Besiktas having reported interest recently. Porto’s Jackson Martinez is already being spoken about as a potential replacement and an unlikely approach for Radamel Falcao has also been discussed.
And finally, just a quick word on Mata. PSG are willing to test Chelsea’s resolve for him in January with a £40m bid and should this happen it will reveal all we need to know about the player’s future at the club as it’s a lot of money and if such a bid were to be shot down it puts a lot of talk about him not being valued by Mourinho to bed. From a personal point of view I’d really hate to see the Spaniard leave.
Source: Express
