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Multiple papers link Bayern Munich to Chelsea's David Luiz

At least this time the papers are running with a seemingly reasonable fee, as the numbers that Sport, AS, El Mundo Deportivo, and Marca were coming up with were laughable

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Laurence Griffiths

The papers are at it again, with both The Telegraph and The Daily Mail writing that Bayern Munich are in on David Luiz. Unlike the ridiculous rumors from the Spanish press, the two English papers are at least running with figures that are far more reasonable than we've been hearing previously.

The papers might even be right*, and Bayern Munich may indeed have legitimate interest in adding one of Chelsea's biggest talents. Even if it's true, however, Chelsea fans probably shouldn't get too worked up about the report.

*I highly doubt it, but who knows...

When clubs sell elite players, more often than not, one of the following four situations is a factor:

The player is at a club in need of money

Chelsea are owned by Roman Abramovich, have no real debt, and are one of the top revenue producing teams in Europe. Chelsea do not need to sell players for money. Even if they did, they'd be looking to move the worthless ones on high wages before getting rid of the guys that are actually underpaid.

The player is nearing the end of their contract

I suppose David Luiz is closer to the end of his contract than he was a day ago, but seeing as his contract won't expire until July of 2017, it's probably not anything to be concerned about.

The player doesn't have a spot

Beyond the Brazilian, Chelsea have Gary Cahill, John Terry, Tomas Kalas, and Branislav Ivanovic that look like they'll be viable first team center back options this season. All four of these players have one thing in common, and that is that all four of those players are not as good at playing football as David Luiz is.

The player has fallen out of favor with the manager

This seems to be what the media are counting on, but everything Mourinho has said has hinted that he's really looking forward to the prospect of working with the Brazilian. On top of that, Mourinho doesn't have a history of selling any semi-useful players before working with them for a season, so there is really no reason to believe that he'd actually want to get rid of Luiz at this point.

David Luiz makes a ton of sense for a bunch of different clubs, with Bayern Munich certainly among them. The Mail report in particular mentions a fairly reasonable fee for the Brazilian, and if Jose Mourinho didn't really care for the player, the club would almost certainly consider it (assuming that there is actually a bid).

Whether of not they'd find it an acceptable sum or not though, they'd certainly not be selling their best center back without first securing a replacement. The club don't have any real internal options that are ready to replace him right away, and there don't appear to be any relatively available top quality replacements on the market at the moment. I suppose that's why players like Thiago SIlva and David Luiz are the only big names the papers are running with though, as teams in need of a world class center back this season don't really have any real options.

If Chelsea all of a sudden decide to stump up a big bid for a guy like Eliaquim Mangala, maybe it will be time to take the David Luiz rumors seriously. Until something like that happens though, there just isn't any reason to believe that he'll be going anywhere.

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