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| Luiz of Liverpool |
By Ojay Matthew
Mourinho: Luiz not for sale
Chelsea manager
Jose Mourinho has insisted the club will not sell star defender David Luiz for
any price.
The versatile
Brazil international has been linked with a big-money move to Barcelona but
Mourinho is adamant the 26-year-old will
not be leaving Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho, who
returned to the London club for a second spell this summer, told BT Sport:
"No chance he is going to leave. He
is a player we want to keep.
"He is a
player with four years (on his) contract, he just signed a contract last year. "We like him.
He is an important player for the club and the club is not ready to sell him
for any price."
Luiz joined the
Blues from Benfica in 2011 and signed a new five-year contract last September. There have been
reports recently claiming Luiz has told the club of his desire to join Barca
but Mourinho says he is not aware of
that. He said: "I
don't know if he said that. What I can say is that he is not going to.
"The last
quotes I read were Luiz saying he is not speaking about clubs when he is with
the national team, which is a fantastic
quote that I appreciate.
"When they are
with the national team they are national team players, they are not club
players. "That is the
last quote I have and it is an intelligent one."
Chelsea have been
linked with former Barca and Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto'o, who is
reportedly available as his current club
Anzhi Makhachkala cut costs. Eto'o won the
Champions League under Mourinho at Inter before moving to the previously
big-spending Russians.
Mourinho said:
"I am always happy that somebody that worked with me previously is happy
to be back and work with me again.
"That is a
good feeling that I have, when I read something that Samuel is keen.
"It is
fantastic for us, but we are going to see what happens."
Mourinho has warned
it could take time to get his squad as he wants it.
The Portuguese won
two Premier League titles in his first spell at Stamford Bridge and now wants
to build the foundations for greater
long-term success. He said: "This
team is not just for tomorrow. It is a team for many, many years, so if in this
moment we don't have the perfect squad,
that is not a problem.
"We work and
we improve and the challenge is to improve the boys and improve the team every
day.
"It
is not a problem for us, we are not feeling this kind of pressure."Diego Costa Extends Atletico Deal
Diego Costa has
expressed his delight at signing a contract extension with Atletico Madrid in a
move which dashes Liverpool's hopes of
landing the forward.
Brendan Rodgers
conceded defeat in his pursuit of Costa over the weekend after learning that
Costa had agreed a new deal to stay in
the Spanish capital.
Atletico have now
confirmed that he has penned a three-year extension to keep him at the club
until 2018. Liverpool had
reportedly tried to activate the buy-out clause in Costa's contract and other
clubs were believed to be monitoring his
situation, but he is thrilled to have committed his future to Atletico.
The Brazilian, who
scored 20 goals last season, spent a couple of years with Atletico early in his
career before returning to the club from
Real Valladolid in 2010. "I am very
happy with this deal after fighting for a long time to win the affection of the
fans, my team-mates and people inside
the club," he told the club's official website.
"It is a very
special moment and I am very happy here."
Suarez hints at Liverpool stay
Luis Suarez has
suggested he may be willing to stay at Liverpool and end his dispute with the
club wednesday.
Suarez had claimed
that he had an agreement that he would be allowed to leave Liverpool if they
failed to qualify for the Champions
League.
Arsenal have made
two bids for the striker, and in the meantime Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers
has ordered Suarez to train alone and
only return after he has apologised to his team-mates. But his desire to
leave now appears to have changed.
Suarez is currently
away with Uruguay for their friendly in Japan and he was quoted in Uruguayan
newspaper El Observador as saying he is
willing to remain at Anfield because of the supporters. "For now,
owing to all the affection of the people, I would be staying," he said.
The newspaper goes
on to suggest he may even extend his contract with the club. That would
represent a remarkable U-turn from Suarez.
In interviews with
the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph, Suarez said: "Last year I had the
opportunity to move to a big European
club and I stayed on the understanding that if we failed to qualify for the
Champions League the following season
I'd be allowed to go. "I gave
absolutely everything last season but it was not enough to give us a top-four
finish - now all I want is for Liverpool
to honour our agreement.
"I don't feel
betrayed (by Liverpool) but the club promised me something a year ago just as I
promised them that I would stay and try
everything possible to get us into the Champions League.
"They gave me
their word a year ago and now I want them to honour that. And it is not just
something verbal with the coach but
something that is written in the contract. I'm not going to another club to
hurt Liverpool."
He even threatened
to take Liverpool to Premier League arbitration to secure his release.
Suarez said last
week: "I have the club's word and we have the written contract and we are
happy to take this to the Premier League
for them to decide the case but I do not want it to come to that. We have the
backing of the PFA."
But his latest
comments suggest that the striker could well be staying which would be a huge
boost for the club ahead of the new
season.
Speaking on
Tuesday, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard admits he is desperate for his
Anfield team-mate to stay on Merseyside. "If I can use
my influence to try to make him stay, I will try to do that," he told a
press conference ahead of England's
friendly against Scotland. "For Liverpool to move forward, it's
important we keep our best players.
"I really
don't know what is going to happen with him but I'm really confident he won't
be going to anyone else in
England."
Earlier in the
week, Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers stated there can be "no
solution" to the stand-off with Suarez as
long as the striker refuses to apologise.
He told the club
website: "It is something that we have to do everything we can to fix. "There has
been a lot said and a lot reported, and we have made a stance, as a club and as
a manager, of the commitment and the
standards required.
"If you don't
have that commitment, and those standards, then you won't play. It's as simple
as that. "If we have
got to sit and wait, then so be it. But this is a club that has got great
values, and we hope that the situation
can be resolved amicably, and I am sure it will be.
"There's no
problem between me and him, it is quite calm. But obviously I have got to
respect the club and the team.
"It doesn't
matter who you are, if they're not pulling their weight then they are letting
down the club, the city and everyone who
has stood by them.
"So until I
get that assurance that we are going to get nothing but 100% commitment, then
there will be no solution."
Reds defender Kolo
Toure welcomed Suarez's apparent change of heart, telling Radio City:
"It's great, we are all really
happy.
"We want him
to stay because what he did last season for the team was amazing. He's a
quality player. We need to keep all of
our quality players."
Also get the full interview with the Minister of Sports by our Sports Editor, Ojay Matthew in this week edition of DayBreak Newspaper.
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