Chelsea reject Barcelona approach for David Luiz — report

Despite his predicament with injury problems and a reported fallout with head coach Antonio Conte affecting his participation in the team, David Luiz’s latest “cycle” with Chelsea may not be over just yet. According to Brazilian outlet UOL Esporte, Chelsea rejected an enquiry made by Barcelona for the 30-year-old.

Barça are looking to add reinforcements to their defence after losing Samuel Umtiti to injury, while Javier Mascherano draws near to a move to Chinese club Hebei Fortune. The Catalan giants approached David's representatives to talk over a potential move in January, but were apparently told to go away.

That said, situations like this usually don’t end after just one opening salvo and rejection, so expect further rumors as we head into January. While Conte has been adamant in denying that there is anything going on other than the injury, the player has been linked with at least four clubs now, including Arsenal, Newcastle, Real Madrid, and now Barcelona. The latter two certainly could be tempting, even if no other personal conflicts were going on.

David's contract with Chelsea is set to run out in June 2019, so there is financial motivation for Chelsea to sell either in January or in the summer, though depth issues that would arise from losing a center back and having only four options for the three spots could put any January move on hold until the summer (unless Chelsea secure a replacement).