BARCA CHASE SILVA

Barcelona have been showing a lot of interest in the Brazilian centre backs like Thiago Silva and David Luiz over the last few months. They are looking to replace ageing defender Carlos Puyol. The club has so far been relying on midfielders like Javier Mascherano and Alex Song to substitute the 35-year-old captain when he is absent from the first-team squad. Barcelona recently failed in their attempts to persuade Silva to join the Catalan club. After several weeks of transfer rumours, the 28-year-old Brazilian centre back signed a new contract with his club PSG.

As a result, the Catalan club have stepped up their interest in Chelsea defender David Luiz, who has been on their radar for a long time. In fact, Barcelona have been looking at Luiz even before he signed for Chelsea. The 26-year-old defender has established as one of the important members of the Chelsea squad. He is valued in excess of £ 40 million by the club, who paid only £ 21 million for his signature in 2011. Barcelona recently came in with their first official offer of £ 35 million, which was instantly rejected by Chelsea. Now, manager José Mourinho has said that the Spanish club are wasting their time in their efforts to sign Luiz because Chelsea do not want to sell him.

“The bid? It’s lost time for them. My advice to them is to go to the second player on their list because they are wasting their time. We don’t want to lose our best players. No chance,” said the Portuguese manager. Mourinho also confirmed that Brazilian right back Wallace is likely to join Inter Milan a season long loan deal. The 18-year-old only recently joined Chelsea, but heavy competition for the first-team spot is likely to meant he will leave on a loan deal.