David Luiz One Step Closer To Wearing Blue?

Having been in and out of talks with the Portuguese champions, Benfica for almost a month, Chelsea seem to be close to sealing the deal for David Luiz. Having originally had a £17 million bid declined at the end of December, Benfica publicly released to the Portuguese stock exchange last night a statement that confirmed that Chelsea had a bid on the table of, reportedly, £26 million.

The statement to the Portuguese stock exchange read: “We have received an offer from Chelsea Football Club for the acquisition of the sporting and economic rights of David Luiz.

“A negotiation process between both parties is ongoing and the market will be informed when it is completed.”

Chelsea currently have four days to draw up an agreement between themselves and Benfica to close the deal before the transfer window closes, which seems to be plenty of time. The Blues are confident enough of the acquisition of David Luiz that they have applied for his work permit, which was successfully accepted yesterday.

There is however proof that the clubs are still arguing over the finer points of the deal as the 23 year old Brazilian defender played the whole game last night in a Portuguese cup game.

The Daily Mirror say: ‘The dispute reportedly centres on the precise make-up of the deal, with Benfica unwilling to accept the fee being paid in instalments.

They are also said to be sniffy about the idea of a player-plus-cash arrangement, with Nemanja Matic – currently on loan at Vitesse Arnhem – having been mentioned as someone who could go to the Lisbon giants as a possible makeweight.’

Chelsea hope to acquire David Luiz, who is widely recognised as one of the most promising defenders playing in Europe, to play alongside John Terry in the centre of defence by the close of the transfer window in just 4 days time.