Chelsea has received an official bid for Brazilian defender David Luiz from La Liga champions Barcelona, according to the Daily Mail.
Sources say the Blues will out-rightly reject the offer for the centre-back, thought to be worth around £35m.
Luiz, 26, has been linked with a move to Barcelona all summer, but Jose Mourinho has been strong in his praise for the defender in recent weeks and sees him playing a big role in the team in the forthcoming season.
When asked about Luiz, Mourinho said: “The potential is incredible, amazing. He always has to play. For me he is a central defender.
“He has a 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,” Mourinho added.
Chelsea announced yesterday (Tuesday) that Luis will miss the friendly match with Real Madrid in Miami on Wednesday with a suspected hamstring injury.
The 26-year-old returned from a post-Confederations Cup holiday to join Mourinho’s squad for their tour to the United States and played 30 minutes of the match with Inter Milan last Thursday.
Barcelona’s football director Raul Sanllehi flew to London on Tuesday to talk to Luiz’s agent Giuliano Bertolucci.
While the centre-back has not shown discontent with the Europa League champions it is also believed he would relish the chance of playing at the Camp Nou.
Should Barcelona fail in their pursuit of Luiz, they will turn to Liverpool’s Daniel Agger.
Luiz joined Chelsea from Benfica in 2011for £21m.
