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It's been exactly a month since the Filipe Luis deal was reported as being "done." Hey, maybe this time they'll get it right. Since the man behind the curtain for this one is Duncan Castles, who's been pretty good with such things since Mourinho came back, maybe this time will truly prove the time.
Chelsea agree €20m transfer of Filipe Luis from Atletico Madrid. #CFC #ATLETI #BRA http://t.co/SUL9AwvNVn
— Duncan Castles (@DuncanCastles) July 13, 2014
The €20m (£16m) would represent a 20% discount on the player's buyout price.
Adding weight behind Castles's story are reports from Spain of Filipe Luis getting "Malouda'd," with Diego Simeone apparently not willing to waste his time on a player who wants to and will probably soon leave the club and is thus making him train with the reserves. Unlike the ex-Chelsea winger however, Filipe Luis has no incentive to stay and collect a larger paycheck at his old club. Though I've seen a few reports of Filipe Luis perhaps carrying a knock or two as well, which could also explain the non-standard training assignments.
In any case, it looks like we're finally moving in the right direction with this transfer. We had a similar story from The Sun's Rob Beasley a few days ago, and several reports of Chelsea conducting fairly aggressive negotiations before then. So, all signs point to Filipe Luis becoming a Chelsea player sooner rather than later. And with preseason already under way, that's a good thing.