Chelsea’s Portuguese supremo appreciates his talented Brazilian stopper…
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho doesn’t intend to sell 26-year-old Brazilian centre-half David Luiz to Barcelona, reports The Mirror.
This follows the claim that Barcelona have flown club executives to London to finalise a deal for the defender, according to Mundo Deportivo.
Mourinho though, appreciates Luiz’s technical ability, and is willing to help him improve his defensive frailties.
“David has come back with us fantastically and we have to use his quality,” said the 50-year-old boss.
“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 have Mourinho’s old favourite John Terry at centre-half, as well as Gary Cahill and the versatile Branislav Ivanovic.
David Luiz is a stylish defender, who is praised for his technical attributes, but often criticised for his defensive failings. His Portuguese manager has traditionally favoured solid no-nonsense centre-halves rather than modern ball-playing ones, meaning Luiz could perhaps be allowed to leave if a large enough offer was made.
The Catalan club have been targeting a new centre-back all summer, but have been rebuffed in their attempts to sign primary target Thiago Silva from PSG. To rub salt in their wounds, PSG also snapped up 19-year-old Marquinhos from Roma, who was said to be Barcelona’s backup plan if they failed to sign Brazil captain Thiago Silva.
As a result, Barcelona are still very short in central defence. While Gerard Pique is expected to start in defence for years to come, his defensive partner Carlos Puyol is injury prone and ageing. Barcelona have regularly had to use midfielders like Javier Mascherano or Alex Song alongside Pique – and played the inexperienced Marc Bartra in their Champions League semi-final defeat to Bayern Munich.
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