EXCLUSIVE: Luiz raid! Barcelona to bid £35m for Chelsea defender



Chelsea will have to fight to keep David Luiz this summer, with Barcelona preparing to offer £35million for the Brazil defender.



The Catalan club have long been admirers of the 24-year-old centre half, dating back to when he was impressing at Benfica. In 2010 he was player of the year in the Portuguese League.



Wanted: Barcelona are preparing to offer £35m for David Luiz

Barcelona see Luiz as a long-term replacement for Carles Puyol, 34 next month and increasingly injury-prone.

Coach Pep Guardiola has regularly been forced to turn to Javier Mascherano as a makeshift centre half, and he impressed there during their successful Champions League campaign last season.

Crowd favourite: Luiz has become a hit with the Chelsea fans since his big-money move

Luiz, who joined Chelsea in January last year for £21m, is seen by Barcelona as a player whose style would suit them perfectly, especially alongside Gerard Pique, and they will make every attempt to lure him away this summer.



Chelsea are sure to resist Barcelona's advances. The frizzy-haired defender is a favourite with the Stamford Bridge crowd and has hit back at criticism over his defending this season with an impressive run of form.



New pairing: Luiz would partner Pique at the Nou Camp

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville famously described him as playing as if he was 'controlled by a 10-year-old in the crowd on a PlayStation'.

But Luiz's performance in the Champions League victory over Napoli last week was considered to be his best in a Chelsea shirt.



Back in the frame: Terry is expected to line up against Spurs

Owner Roman Abramovich may also refuse to sell, given that skipper John Terry is 31 and troubled more and more by injury.

