Chelsea Should Ignore Barcelona's Offer and Refuse to Sell David Luiz

Chelsea are reported to have received a bid from Spanish La Liga champions Barcelona for central defender David Luiz, a bid which perhaps they would do well to ignore and reject out of hand.

BBC Sport reports how Barcelona have made an all-cash offer of £21 million for the Brazilian defender, but the Blues are said to have stated that the defender is not available for a move.

Chelsea have signed three senior players since manager Jose Mourinho returned to the club, but none have been defenders the likes of Jeffrey Bruma and Paolo Ferreira departing, as well as defensive midfielder Oriol Romeu.

As such, they could ill-afford to lose Luiz without an adequate replacement already to hand, which is just one of several reasons they should summarily dismiss the bid from Barcelona.

Why Luiz is Too Important to Sell 

The Blues find themselves far removed from the defensive strength in arms that Jose Mourinho had at his disposal the first time around at Chelsea.

John Terry is no longer the reliable force he was in his prime, while Gary Cahill is not a top-level central defender, despite being a regular in the England set-up. Branislav Ivanovic is certainly a very good defender in his own right, but his versatility likely means he will continue to flit between positions rather than being an established player only on the right or only in the centre.

That leaves Luiz as the fourth defender, a regular starter and an exciting character on the field.

He is a formidable opponent in one-on-one situations, is by far the best Chelsea defender at bringing the ball out of defence into midfield and has an exceptional passing range which can contrast well against a more measured buildup from the centre of the park.

Of course, he brings versatility too, having shown last season that he can operate in midfield just as well as defence, though it seems that Mourinho will use him in the latter position.

Is he a perfectly reliable defender? No. Luiz has his moments of madness and poor judgement, but his pace gets him out of trouble some of the time and he more than makes up for the other lapses with good covering for his team mates, committed displays and being surprisingly strong in his duels having won 84 percent of all his tackles last season. He also won more than half of his aerial battles, comparable with Ivanovic over the course of the season.

A big-name defender might or might not make the difference in any given match, but his departure shortly before the start of the season can send the wrong kind of message to his team mates—as well as encouraging other clubs to put prices up of possible replacements.

Why £21 million isn't Enough

Market fees this summer have been heavily distorted by rumours, overpaying for attackers and the few clubs around Europe paying extortionate prices for players, including French duo Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco.

Barcelona seem to be trying to ignore reality with a reasonable bid for Luiz; the problem being, of course, that merely reasonable is not proving enough this year. Bids for big players have to be much more on the side of extravagant to have a chance of success, and with four years still left on his present contract, Chelsea are well in control of Luiz's future.

Mourinho will need to bring great character and resilience back to Chelsea to make the club as successful as they were in his previous tenure, and David Luiz must surely be central to his plans. In terms of both technique and character, there are few better combinations going in the Premier League than the Brazilian defender, and that kind of contribution is difficult to put a price on.

Except, it's higher than £21 million.

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