David Luiz: Can we not just forget him?

By: Jack | January 27th, 2011

A work permit has been secured and Benfica have publicly admitted that negotiations are taking place. A deal for the defender David Luiz appears imminent.

Should we be pleased? I’m leaning toward no.

luiz
Value buy?

Sigh. The latest in a series of transfer sagas involving Chelsea Football Club. How long has this one dragged on? A quick check around the net sees rumors linking the club with a move for the 23-year-old central defender as early as the end of June 2010. Yay.

This latest foray into el mercato has been just as successful – in terms of drawing furor from the support – as our previous two (Ramires, Neymar). Or any of our recent inquiries to be honest. We just blow when it comes to scouting and securing talent. That topic, however, is reserved for a later post.

The focus here is on Luiz. There is no doubt he is a superlative footballer, that rare breed of defender who is both sound in the tackle and proficient on the ball. He’s shown the ability to negotiate forward from the back with ease, working as a playmaker at times in the Benfica system. Quick. Agile. Durable.

Expensive. Benfica like them some hardball. Chris Matthews fucking adores SLB. They finagled the hell out of us in the summer with regard to Ramires. Now they’re doing it again, just with a different Brazilian. Mutombo-like rejections of bids in excess of £17, £20 million and £23 million. We want £25m say Benfica. Maybe a young player or two. Perhaps a Kalou.

It looks like they’re going to get it, too.

sakho
Alternative.

What we have to ask ourselves is: 1. Is Luiz worth £25m? and 2. How long is the club going to continue to be held to ransom? The later is of particularly importance to me. I cannot be the only one sick of the so-called ‘Chelsea tax.’ This dubious practice is absurd and, frankly, disgusting. However, clubs will continue to inflate prices because, at Chelsea, we enjoy caving to demands. Until the club sacks up, we are going to be subject to this nonsense. Sort it out, Gourlay. It’s the least you could do.

As for No. 1: Is Luiz worth a fee that could be in excess of £25 million? In a word, no. If concluded, Luiz’s deal would rank second all-time on the list of most expensive central defender transfers behind Rio Ferdinand’s move to Manchester United. (£29m). Elite company.

That fee would also be the second-most Chelsea has ever forked out for a player, of course trailing only poor Andriy. We all remember how that one played out.

Does Luiz have the potential to become the second coming of Ricardo Carvalho? I think so. Will he ever be worth that kind of cash? I can’t see it. Plus, there’s the player to consider. He’s going to be stricken with the burden of having to live up to such an extravagant fee. How many players have the guile to deal with such a weight? Not many.

Then there are the alternatives to consider, of which there are many. Cristián Zapata, Mamadou Sakho and Simon Kjær just to name a few. All are young. All are quality defenders. And all would come at a substantially cheaper price (I would think).

Furthermore, if the suits were interested in Luiz during the summer, why the hell didn’t they begin negotiations then when we were moving for Ramires? I guess that makes too much sense.

So, to summarize, it’s not that I don’t like the idea of Luiz in Chelsea blue. It’s the price and the club’s inability to recognize when to say when that vexes me. Why must we constantly pay over the odds for talent? Stop it, Ron. Stop it.

Some Related Chelsea Posts:

Category: Chelsea Team News, Opinion, Transfer Rumors

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Chelseabluesvenice

Any news now that "the deal is off" that Chels will make a move again for Kjaer? Loved watching him play during the WC, his deep ball's to the Danish wingers sprang a couple of goals.
wisesageknowledge

the price? ahhhhh, i must have forgot (along with romes and the board) that you were pitching in on this deal. you may have to cut out some meals on the town, maybe a couple holidays to the beach. if I am wrong about you throwing down on this deal, and we can move past that, then shut up about the price, the pride, bad business, etc. will he be quality? will he provide cover? will he be the best CB in the world and wearing chelsea blue instead of that of the mancs or some other god awful club that, when successful, just gives you the constant thought that we should clobber them? again, shut up and support quality coming to chelsea. if they spend, then i say go ape shit and spend like hell, round up anything. whatever it takes to win, to do a quintuple.
Jack

Quintuple? We might want to focus on qualifying for the Champions League first.
Shyam

Definitely we should not make this signing, this will pave way for even worse 'hold chelsea for ransom' in future.
What do you think about Mourinho to Chelsea? tastes delicious to me, but will RA's ego block the joy?
arn00b

Totally agree. Class or no class, this is not the real price of the player. How would you feel if you went to an expensive restaurant and they gave you a menu with different prices on it, just because it's you? Even if it's a really good restaurant, for how long are you going to take that?

Chelsea should not even play their game. And yes, is is a game when they say "there's other suitors" Well, then go there. Benfica is a selling club and they're in desperate need for cash injections. They're trying to play on CFC's desperation, and Chelsea is eating out of their hands.

Benfica have no use for Luiz as a business other than to sell him. You have to understand their mentality, they are not there to win CL, they won't anytime soon. They have no interest in keeping the player other than in generating the highest transfer fee, to buy 3 new DL's, polish them a bit and sell them to idiots like CFC and City. They don't even have full ownership of him, for hell's sake. They're desperate for cash and it's a game of seeing who's more desperate.

Enough is enough. Let him go. Everyone is saying he's the next somethingsomething. Well, maybe Chelsea should find the next David Luiz before he goes to Benfica.
Jack

"... maybe Chelsea should find the next David Luiz before he goes to Benfica."

Well said.
Darren_V

Wouldn't you consider that 'cherry-picking youngsters' then?
Jack

Not particularly, but I get what you're attempting to say. Then again, you were the one who entered a Chelsea discussion with the intent of speaking as if your club was somehow better because of the way you do business. I simply pointed out that the club you support - like Chelsea - is not immune to questionable behavior in the transfer market. That still doesn't mean we should subjected to inflated prices; many, not all, of the fees paid between 2004-06 now seem like fair money, some even bargains.
Darren_V

Where did I ever say Arsenal was better because they way they do business? There are positives and negatives to the way both Arsenal and Chelsea do their business. I am not naive to the questionable behaviour of Arsenal whatsoever. In fact, I have pointed this out myself before.
My only point was splashing the cash like Chelsea did gave them a reputation that now precedes them in each and every transfer negotation. That reputation is inflated prices. Sure it not really fair, or reality anymore, but the reputation is there.
Arsenal have their own reputation, and parts of it drives me mad.
Darren_V

"This dubious practice is absurd and, frankly, disgusting"

I find this humorous, given how your squad has been built in the number of years.

You reap what you sow.
Jack

Coming from an Arsenal fan. Cherry-picking youngsters is clearly the work of saints.
Darren_V

Don't beleive I ever considered Arsenal saints. Chelsea built their squad their way, and must deal with the consequences, just as Arsenal must.
You pay for it with absurd prices for players. Arsenal pay for it in wage fees.
droggles

Clearly whatever Arsenal is doing isn't working, else they wouldn't be trophyless for so long.
Ash

David Luiz is pure class, people will see his lightning reactios spread to our midfield and attack, they're regular players who you quote and world class, David Luiz mark my words will be world class. These players are not run of the mill like some alternatives you quote.
Henry

No offence, you're an idiot
Jack

Care to elaborate or is that all you've got?
Tegabaloo

price or no price david is making sense. an asset of great value.
ph0bolus

even at 17m it's still pretty damn high for me, but 25 mil is stupid money...I'd rather us buy Kjaer and spend the rest on Aguero or Sanchez. An area where we really need some reinforcements.