Barcelona have been given a clear run on David Luiz after Bayern Munich boss Pep
Guardiola admitted he had pulled out of the race to sign the £40million-rated Chelsea
defender.
After monitoring Luiz’s form for Brazil in the recent Confederations Cup, it was widely believed
Guardiola would follow up his long-standing interest in the centre-back with an official
approach to Chelsea counterpart Jose Mourinho.
But Sportsmail understands the former Barcelona coach concluded Luiz was no better than the
central defenders already at the Allianz Arena and that no further additions were needed to his
squad, following the arrival of Manchester United target Thiago Alcantara from the Nou Camp.
Guardiola admitted he would not be pursuing Luiz and appeared to confirm it was because the
26-year old had fallen short of expectations, as he said: ‘It is not true (that I will be signing
Luiz). I have four or five central defenders already and don’t need another one.’
Luiz could still be heading out of Stamford Bridge, though, after new Barcelona coach Gerardo
Martino met sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta to discuss transfer plans and presented him
with a five-man list of defensive targets.
Luiz figures prominently in Martino’s thoughts, along with, Arsenal’s Thomas Vermaelen,
Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen, Liverpool’s Daniel Agger and Manchester City skipper Vincent
Kompany.
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