The agent of summer signing David Luiz has revealed that the Brazilian forced through his move to Stamford Bridge as he wanted a return to London, despite PSG not wanting to part ways with their man. Kia Joorabchian told Goal:
“It came around quite late in the day, it was a late deal… It was in the last few days of the window, but I think that before that it was very much on the cards. The move was David’s doing because I don’t think that PSG wanted to sell David, but he wanted to come to Chelsea, for sure. When Chelsea made a move for him, it was the end of the story. I think about his ability and his situation and Chelsea were looking for someone of his nature and David was obviously very, very keen to come back to Chelsea. He loves the club and he always has so I think it happened as soon as he decided that this would be a great thing to do.”
Since returning, Luiz has struggled as part of a frail defence in recent weeks but played a vital role as his team yesterday kept their first clean sheet since August as they saw off Hull with a 2-0 victory at the KC Stadium.
Another man who is on the move is assistant first team coach Steve Holland, who has been given a role in Gareth Southgate’s England squad. The 46-year-old was previously involved with the under 21s as he played a role as assistant to the former Middlesbrough manager, but will now step up to be involved with the first team.
The former Crewe Alexandra manager will now combine his new role on the international scene with his role at Chelsea, who he joined in 2009. Since then, Holland has played a variety of roles, from reserve team manager to assistant manager to caretaker manager briefly in 2015. Now, he will face his most exciting challenge to date as he will team up with the England squad next week ahead of a World Cup qualifier against Malta.
There has also been a shock revelation as Borussia Monchengladbach sporting director Max Eberl told the Express that Chelsea do not have a buy-back clause in the deal which saw Thorgan Hazard move to Germany, initially on loan, in February 2015. The Blues were believed to have a £13 million buy back clause on Eden’s younger brother which they were considering taking up after his impressive displays in the Bundesliga and Champions League. He explained:
“There is no clause. There is also no deadline for anything… I don’t want to comment on any elements of the contract [but] we also don’t need to make any secrets about it: If we get a top player from Chelsea, then of course Chelsea also have the opportunity, in any form whatsoever, to think about them for themselves again – but they haven’t actively done so!”
Whether this would scupper any deal remains to be seen, but there is certainly nothing to stop the Blues making a move for the Belgian, regardless of whether there are any clauses which would force an offer to be accepted or not.
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