It’s been over a year in which Barcelona have shown some interest in David Luiz, but it seems the events of this season and this beginning summer at both the Catalan club and Chelsea are leading to the result of the Brazilian centre back making his way from Stamford Bridge to the Nou Camp.
According to the Catalan press, Jose Mourinho, who is pretty much a done deal at Chelsea (reports of four years, £40 million contract), doesn’t see Luiz as the right kind of central defender for his needs, which means he’s up for grabs. Barcelona, who appreciate technical skills in a defender more than anyone else, seem to be interested in Luiz for both his attacking ability and his improved defensive awareness, including his superb aerial game.
Luiz, 26, arrived at Chelsea from Benfica in 2011, signed for €25 million and has been a huge part of their European triumphs over the last couple of seasons, winning the Champions League and the Europa League with the team. He has been a first team regular all season long, with Gary Cahill, John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic rotating next to him at the defense, unless Luiz was pushed forward by Benitez to occupy the defensive midfielder role.
And that’s something Barcelona extremely seem to like about their potential new player. Not just the promise of becoming the new Carles Puyol, partially thanks to the hair, but also in his ability to anchor an attacking side from behind, a Barcelona love to switch formations when with the ball and without it, turning one of their defensive players into another part of the midfield. Just like the fading Gerard Pique, Luis stands out with his ability to do a lot more with the ball than most defensive players usually can.
He is signed at Chelsea until 2017, so there’s no rush in selling him, and he won’t be sold for anything less than what he came for, or probably more. A lot depends on how Mourinho feels about the player and his chances of getting someone better in the transfer market, or even about selling to Barcelona, a team he doesn’t have strong feelings about, at least since his first tenure at Chelsea (for those who forget, Mourinho was an assistant at Barcelona under Bobby Robson).