It looks like that Chelsea’s defensive woes are over after they secured the signature of versatile central defender, David Luiz from Benfica on the last day of the January transfer window for a whopping fee of 21.3 million pounds.
21.3 million pounds may not look to be a huge amount given today’s inflated player prices but if taken into account is the fact that Luiz is a central defender, the price looks nothing short of whopping.
There have not been many transfers in the world where central defender have swapped clubs for such a huge amount of money and Rio Ferdinand’s transfer to Manchester United for 28 million pounds was the highest fee ever paid in the Premier League for the
transfer of a central defender.
But when the club owner is an oligarch of Roamn Abrahamovic’s stature money is of course not an issue.
The transfer deal also includes midfielder Nemanja Matic moving to Portugal in the summer as currently the player is on loan at Vitesse Arnhem.
23 year old Luiz arrived at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground last night to complete his medical and agree personal terms and the deal was confirmed by his parent club around 2200 GMT.
“I know very well the quality that Chelsea has. I am delighted to be joining a big English club, It is a major challenge for me but I am determined and confident in my ability to adapt to this excellent league, and I look forward to meeting my new team-mates.”
Said an excited Luiz after the deal was completed.
The completion of the deal took Chelsea’s spending in January to more than 70 million pounds after they also signed Fernando Torres for a British transfer record fee of 50 million pounds.
“David Luiz is one of the great defensive prospects in world football, and already a Brazilian international, I am sure he will prove a valuable addition to the Chelsea squad.” said the Blues chief executive Ron Gourlay.
Chelsea had been chasing the defender all throughout January but the deal looked to have hit a wall after the talks broke down over some financial issue but Chelsea upped the ante and included Nemanja Matic in the deal so make the offer impossible to decline
for Benica and the Portuguese club duly obliged.
David Luiz signed for Benfica back in 2007 and became a key member of the side helping them win the Portuguese Super Liga last season for the first time in five years.
One flip side of the deal is the fact that David Luiz cannot represent Chelsea in the Champions League this season as he has already played in the competition for Benfica and under UEFA regulations that renders him ineligible to play for Chelsea in the continental
competition.
On one hand where Chelsea spendthrift is mindboggling, on the other hand they seem to be in dire straits financially.
The club reported a loss of 70.9 million pounds in the last fiscal year.
The figures were only released yester day and it is worrying considering that the London club won the Premier League and the FA cup in the same year.
The club’s annual turnover increased by 1.2% to 205.8 million but the operating loss was still at a whopping 70 million pounds.
Under the new UEFA regulations from next season onwards all the clubs who do not break even on a three year rolling period will be banned from taking part in the continental competitions and although the Chelsea camp suggests that the club are in a strong
position to comply with those rules the club’s balance sheet suggests otherwise.
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