Barcelona Hold Informal Talks With Chelsea Ahead Of Potential £30m Defender Bid

With the summer transfer window now open, there is plenty of gossip doing the rounds in the newspapers so we’ll keep you up-to-date with the latest transfer rumours. Today, Chelsea are bracing themselves for a bid from Barcelona.

Chelsea are bracing themselves for a £30m bid from Barcelona for defender David Luiz after the Spaniards asked about his availability, according to the Mirror.

Luiz’s future at Stamford Bridge has surprisingly come under scrutiny following the arrival of Jose Mourinho this summer and reports have recently linked him with a move to German giants Bayern Munich, although boss Pep Guardiola was quick to dismiss this suggestion insisting he wasn’t in the market for another defender.

Talk of interest from Bayern appears to have prompted Barcelona into action with the Mirror claiming the Catalans are set to launch a £30m bid for the 26-year-old after maknig him their No.1 target as they look to bring in a new centre-back this summer.

The newspaper suggests that Barca president Sandro Rosell has already made initial contact with the Blues to ask about Luiz’s availability and will follow that up with a formal bid if they are given the slightest of encouragement that a deal could be done.

New boss Jose Mourinho has insisted that the Brazilian international is not for sale and is part of his plans for the upcoming season, but Barca are understood to be confident the west Londoners would be prepared to do business if the price is right.

Luiz only signed a new long-term deal at Chelsea last summer and has become a real fan-favourite since joining from Benfica in January 2011, so it would be a huge shock if he was sold this summer and I’d suspect it might take more than £30m to persuade Jose Mourinho to cash in.

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