Right on cue, not an hour after Antonio Conte reported that David Luiz has picked up a knee injury — I’m not doubting the veracity of Conte’s report, but I’ve been conditioned over the years to treat this timing as suspicious — here comes the Transfer Oracle to report that the Chelsea center back is “in talks” with Real Madrid.

Hmmm...

Mercato: David Luiz discute avec le Real Madrid https://t.co/lVWj88Cfnq via @RMCSport — Mohamed Bouhafsi (@mohamedbouhafsi) November 28, 2017

The report claims that the discussions are over a possible January transfer and that David Luiz’s ineligibility in the Champions League wouldn’t be an issue for either him or the club. The defender has already represented Chelsea in Europe’s premier competition, so he would not be able to play for Real Madrid (or any other team) in the knockout rounds. But apparently that’s not a huge concern, or at least isn’t a concern that would prevent discussions and potential transfer from taking place.

David Luiz getting linked with a January move is wholly unsurprising given the developments on the pitch (Christensen taking over as starter) and off (supposed personal conflict with Conte), but it’s still surprising how fast he’s fallen from “one of the best in the world” to potentially being surplus to requirements.

Life comes at you fast.

(Or it’s just idle speculation ... but David Luiz does appear to be trending towards a second Chelsea exit, and not just because of Conte.)