If Chelsea genuinely have any hopes of signing French international Eliaquim Mangala it is about to take a setback as reports in Portugal claim that he’s to sign a new two-year deal.
The Portuguese club want to see off interest from the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United by offering the 22-year-old, who reportedly has a buyout clause of nearly £40 million, a pay rise.
It seems as though the press are confident that Mangala will accept the offer which could complicate things for Jose Mourinho if he has earmarked him as a potential replacement for David Luiz.
The 26-year-old Brazilian has fallen out of favour at Stamford Bridge and his misfortune has been compounded by the injury that has prevented him for winning his place back. It’s thought that Mourinho isn’t a particular fan of the defender’s style and would rather seek an alternative, whilst Luiz has been linked with the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Mourinho has already said that he is not expecting to make any moves in the January transfer window and doesn’t believe we will see any exits either, but admitted that he couldn’t say with 100% certainty as you never know what can happen when the desires of players alter. Being a World Cup year you’d think that out-of-favour players would be more keen to move on in order to seek regular football as they bid for a place in their respective national squads.
It doesn’t look as though Mangala will be joining the ranks at Stamford Bridge any time soon but a new contract won’t really do a whole lot to prevent a move if both Chelsea and the player really wanted it in the summer.
The Frenchman impressed over the 2012/13 season in his 39 appearances for Porto and scored seven goals in that time. Since then he has caught the eye of a number of Premier League clubs, including Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Arsenal.
