Chelsea adamant David Luiz transfer to Barcelona simply isn't going to happen
Chelsea adamant David Luiz transfer to Barcelona simply isn't going to happen
Nou Camp target's absence from Blues' Sunday friendly raised eyebrows but Mourinho and Abramovich have no wish to sell
Hanging onto Luiz: Mourinho says the Brazilian can improve - but will do so at Chelsea
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Jose Mourinho plans to make it clear David Luiz is going nowhere and will be a Chelsea cornerstone this season, writes Martin Lipton. Barcelona are again making noises in relation to the cult-hero defender, with suggestions of a £45million bid for the Brazil international.
Luiz sat out the Londoners' win over AC Milan in a pre-season friendly in New Jersey, USA, on Sunday, fuelling more rumours.
But
the 26-year-old was rested as a precaution after picking up a minor
hamstring injury in training and will be back in harness on Saturday for
the final game of the trip - against Roma in Washington.
Mourinho
wants to squash any talk of Luiz being surplus to requirements and warn
Barca off any further attempts to destabilise the defender.
The
Special One believes Luiz is integral to his thoughts for the upcoming
campaign, having announced in Malaysia last month that the Brazilian
"has to play".
Mourinho has talked up Luiz, who missed the start
of pre-season after playing in the Confederations Cup, insisting: "David
has come back with us fantastically and we have to use his quality.
"He has big self-confidence and self-esteem, especially when he comes up from the back with the ball.
"Can he improve defensively? Of course. But it is my job to try always to improve players."
Chelsea's
owner Roman Abramovich - a surprise spectator at the Milan match - is a
huge Luiz fan and is not interested in letting the player, bought from
Benfica for £21m in 2011, depart.
Unless Barcelona make an outlandish offer, Chelsea would not even entertain the thought of relinquishing the player.
And
Mourinho intends to reinforce that message ahead of Wednesday's game in
Miami against Real Madrid, the club he left under a cloud earlier this
summer.
The Blues' manager will have to defuse a row with Real
superstar Cristiano Ronaldo which blew up after Mourinho spoke of his
experiences working with "the real Ronaldo" at Barca under Bobby Robson.
Former
Manchester United forward Ronaldo responded, angrily: "I have gotten
used to people saying bad things about me. As we say in Portugal, 'I do
not spit on the plate I'm eating from.' That's all I want to say about
it."
Wednesday's game should see the first match action of the
pre-season for Frank Lampard, who has been nursing an Achilles problem
since Chelsea played in Thailand last month.
Mourinho wanted the 35-year-old midfielder to play on Sunday, then decided it was not worth the risk.
But the Blues boss has since confirmed: "Frank has got to start playing now."
* LUCAS PIAZON could become the latest Chelsea starlet to head to Vitesse Arnhem on loan, writes Darren Witcoop.
The
Dutch club want the 19-year-old Brazilian midfielder to join Stamford
Bridge team-mates Patrick Van Aanholt and Gael Kakuta in their squad.
Blues starlets Nathaniel Chalobah, Josh McEachran and Nathan Ake will also be farmed out this season.
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