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Paris Saint-Germain will make David Luiz the most expensive defender in the world this summer if their plans to seal a transfer in the region of £50 million come to fruition.

The Daily Mail's Neil Ashton reports the Ligue 1 champions are set to complete the move "in the next 48 hours" in order to fend off interest from Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

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Oliver Kay of The Times adds that the deal seems imminent:

The move would see Luiz link up with an expanding crew of his Brazilian countrymen, particularly in defence. Laurent Blanc already has Selecao centre-backs Thiago Silva, Marquinhos and the departing Alex at his disposal, as well as full-back Maxwell and winger Lucas Moura.

Such a lucrative sale would work heavily in Chelsea's favour, providing the club with serious funds to pursue their top summer targets.

Jose Mourinho has relied heavily on John Terry and Gary Cahill in central defence this season, and the January acquisition of Kurt Zouma will add another promising prospect in need of some blooding when he returns to the club this summer.

Luiz has rarely threatened to break the Terry-Cahill partnership, and his best Chelsea performance arguably came when he helped the Blues knock PSG out of the Champions League quarter-finals, as a holding midfielder.

It was in the wake of this display that Mourinho heaped praise upon the versatile Luiz, per Jack Gaughan of the Daily Mail:

"They worked like animals my midfield, David Luiz is a monster," Mourinho said.

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The west Londoners stand to more than double the reported €25 million fee they paid Benfica for Luiz's services three years ago, which is great value considering the player still raises some alarms regarding his security as a "world-class" defender.

Mourinho is evidently open to losing the player's talents after ESPN reported earlier in May that a move had allegedly been agreed with Barcelona:

Ashton writes that once Chelsea and PSG have agreed a fee, the latter will seek permission from Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari to fly out from the national team's World Cup training base to complete the transfer.

Tom Williams of Agence France-Presse added that Luiz may not be the only mega-money deal between the two outfits this summer:

Luiz made just 15 Premier League starts for the Blues this season, per Transfermarkt, and while his eye-catching style may be dazzling at times, this sale may be too lucrative to turn down.

Provided the club are able to cope with his loss, Chelsea would be smart to cash in on Luiz's signature, reinvesting the funds in an area of the squad that's in more dire need of fresh blood.