Chelsea
Chelsea Aim To Finally Tie-Up Costa Deal As Luiz Looks Set For €60m PSG Move
David Luiz is on the verge of joining PSG in a €60m deal and Chelsea will use the money to finally tie-up a £32m move for Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa
As we approach the opening of the summer window clubs will be intensifying their efforts in the transfer market so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, David Luiz out, Diego Costa in at Chelsea?
David Luiz is on the verge of joining PSG in a mammoth €60m deal and Chelsea will use the money to finally tie-up a £32m move for Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa, according to reports today.
Luiz has failed to convince Jose Mourinho as a centre-back with the Brazilian largely as a defensive midfielder last season, and it appears the Blues manager is ready to cash-in and use the funds to strengthen other areas of his squad.
Widespread reports today claim that Paris Saint-Germain have moved quickly and are prepared to pay over the odds to beat both Barcelona and Bayern Munich to the 27-year-old’s signature, with the Daily Mail suggesting a deal worth close to €60m (£50m) will be completed within the next 48 hours.
Once the finer details of the deal have been thrashed out, the French champions will seek permission from Brazil boss Luiz Felipe Scolari to send a representative to their World Cup training base to conduct a medical.
If these reports are accurate, Luiz will become the most expensive defender in world football, easily beating the fees paid by PSG for Marquinhos and Thiago Silva – which were both in the region of £33m.
It’s a huge sum to pay for a defender who has been widely criticised for his defensive attributes during his time in England, and you’d also have to question how PSG are able to afford such a deal when they were recently sanctioned by UEFA for failing to meet their Financial Fair Play guidelines.
However, it will be an excellent piece of business by Chelsea if they can get that kind of money for a player who isn’t considered as a vital first team member, and the Mail claim Mourinho will use the money to fund his move for Diego Costa.
The Blues have been strongly linked with the Spanish hitman in recent months and reports last week even suggested they had a £32m deal in place with Atletico Madrid that will be concluded after this weekend’s Champions League final.
Whether that turns out to be the case remains to be seen but it would be a shrewd move if Chelsea could ship out Luiz, sign Costa and still come away with an £18m profit. The first team would most certainly be stronger and Mourinho would still have sizeable funds left over to bring in another midfielder to replace Luiz.
READ MORE –> Chelsea transfer news
Chelsea have already signed centre-back Kurt Kouma back in January so they are well stocked at the back, but Jose may feel he needs another option in the middle of the park if Luiz does indeed end up moving to PSG.
