?Barcelona have turned down the opportunity to hand David Luiz a way out of his Chelsea nightmare, according to reports in Catalonia.
Radio Catalunya (h/t ?Sport) has reported that La Blaugrana were offered the chance to sign their one-time transfer target by none other than Luiz himself, but declined to try and press Chelsea into selling the defender.
Luiz’s Chelsea career has taken a downturn in recent weeks due to a perceived falling out with manager Antonio Conte and now a niggling knee injury that has blighted his return to the first-team fold.
Conte’s freezing out of the centre-back had led to speculation that Luiz’s time at Stamford Bridge will come to an end in the January window, but unless another unknown interested party comes in for him, the 30-year-old may yet stay in west London.
Luiz is believed to have been in Barcelona for advice on his current injury problem, and is said to have taken the opportunity to try and convince Ernesto Valverde’s side to lure him to Nou Camp.
However, those pleas have fallen on deaf ears and La Liga’s current leaders appear to harbour no ambitions to snap up the Brazil international.
Barcelona are on the look out for new defensive recruits after stalwart Javier Mascherano stated his desire to leave next month over a lack of regular game time under Valverde.
The Argentinian midfielder-cum-defender is thought to be close to a move to the Chinese Super League, although Barca are not prepared to allow him to leave unless they bring in a suitable replacement.
Luiz, who is contracted to Chelsea until June 2019, has missed the last seven matches due to inflammation on his knee and has not featured for the Blues since the 4-0 Champions League triumph over Qarabag on 22nd November.
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