Jose Mourinho is blocking outright Barcelona’s attempt to lure David Luiz to the Nou Camp by refusing to acknowledge any bid from the Spanish giants who are increasingly desperate in their pursuit of a centre back.
“No chance he is going to leave. He is a player we want to keep. He is a player with four years (on his) contract, he just signed a contract last year,” Mourinho said when asked about the Brazilian’s future.
“We like him. He is an important player for the club and the club is not ready to sell him for any price.”
Barcelona have made their interest in the versatile defender clear this summer and it has been suggested that Luiz has expressed a desire to depart Stamford Bridge for the Catalan club but Mourinho says that even if that is the case there will be no movement this summer.
“I don’t know if he said that. What I can say is that he is not going to,” the returning Chelsea manager said in response to a question about Luiz’s expression of a desire to leave London.
“The last quotes I read were Luiz saying he is not speaking about clubs when he is with the national team, which is a fantastic quote that I appreciate. When they are with the national team they are national team players, they are not club players.
“That is the last quote I have and it is an intelligent one.”
Mourinho meanwhile seems to be shifting his focus from Wayne Rooney, who looks certain now to stay at Manchester United for the time being as club officials and manager David Moyes refuse to consider a move for the striker to Chelsea with the Portugee manager now pursuing Samuel Eto’o.
The pair won the Champions League together at Inter Milan before the striker left for Anzhi Makhachkala who have now transfer listed their entire squad in an effort to cut costs prompting Eto’o to say that he would be happy to link up with Mourinho once again.
For his part the manager said he was flattered by the compliment but that he was building a squad not just for this season but the future of the club, perhaps ruling out a move for the 32 year old.
“I am always happy that somebody that worked with me previously is happy to be back and work with me again.
“That is a good feeling that I have, when I read something that Samuel is keen. It is fantastic for us, but we are going to see what happens.
“This team is not just for tomorrow. It is a team for many, many years, so if in this moment we don’t have the perfect squad, that is not a problem.
“We work and we improve and the challenge is to improve the boys and improve the team every day.”
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