David Luiz rejects Brazilian, Qatari millions to stay in Europe — report

David Luiz is a wanted man. In both Brazil and Qatar, clubs have pitched very lucrative offers to the 32-year-old, whose contract at Chelsea is set to expire in less than three months.

But the defender isn’t interested in leaving the limelight just yet. He still feels he’s got a lot left in his tank — playing nearly every game for Chelsea certainly won’t dissuade him from that notion — and has reportedly already rebuffed one offer and is ready to reject the other one as well.

The offer in Brazil, €10m in wages and a signing bonus, came from Palmeiras, who’ve won two of the last three Brasileirão titles and are currently led by former Chelsea and Brazil national team head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. Their main objective this season is to improve on their Copa Libertadores performance, where last time they lost to Boca Juniors in the semifinal. David Luiz certainly would’ve been a welcome addition to their squad, but he believes he can still win back his spot in the national team for the 2022 World Cup if he stays in Europe. For similar reasons, he’s set to reject an even bigger offer from Qatar, too, where they’re apparently looking to pay him €40m across three seasons.

However, at the same time, he has still not signed a new contract with Chelsea even though the supposed impasse over contract length (one-year only as per club policy) and total compensation had been resolved. Part of the reason for the delay is probably the appeal over the FIFA transfer ban, which has put most of Chelsea’s transfer activities on hold. Either way, given David’s importance this season, as well as during Conte’s title-winning season, it would not be surprising to see him rewarded with the contract extension, perhaps helping him keep his Seleção dreams alive.