Chelsea Table €19m Offer For Brazilian Defender

The summer transfer window is now open for business and it’s expected to be a busy few weeks as managers strengthen their squads ahead of next season, so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, Chelsea make an improved bid for Filipe Luis.

Chelsea have made an improved €19m offer for Brazilian left-back Filipe Luis but it still falls short of Atletico Madrid’s €24m asking price, according to reports.

Luis has just enjoyed an excellent season with Madrid where he was virtually ever-present as Diego Simeone’s side marched towards the La Liga title and just missed out on the Champions League after losing to rivals Real Madrid in the final.

His impressive form led to interest from Chelsea and with Jose Mourinho on the look-out for an experienced replacement for Ashley Cole, reports earlier this month suggested that the Blues had failed with an opening offer of €15m (£12m) with Atletico holding out for the full value of his €24m (£19m) buy-out clause.

The rejection didn’t go down to well in the Luis camp as it’s understood the 28-year-old has his heart set on moving to Stamford Bridge and he pleaded with Atletico bosses to reduce their demands in order to facilitate a move.

As yet, the Spaniard’s haven’t buckled and now it looks like Chelsea have tried their luck again as the Daily Star claim the west Londoners have made an improved offer worth €19m (£15m) for the defender.

However, this latest bid looks set to once again fall short as the newspaper suggests that Madrid are adamant they won’t sell Luis for anything less than the full value of his buy-out fee, so it looks like Chelsea will have to pay the extra £4m if they want to get their man.

Whether Mourinho will be prepared to sanction a third offer remains to be seen, but the report states that the Portuguese coach has back-up options in mind in-case a deal for Luis can’t be agreed, and is keeping his eye on Sevilla’s Alberto Moreno and Sporting Lisbon’s Marcus Rojo.

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Luis has certainly been hugely impressive over the past few seasons but £19m does sound like a huge investment for a left-back who will be 29 next month and will therefore have very little potential sell-on value.

With Cesar Azpilicueta excelling at left-back last year, a first team defender shouldn’t be a priority, so perhaps Mourinho would be better off bringing in a youngster who can act as understudy to the Spaniard rather than splashing out big money on a player who will arguably not improve the first team.