Ever since the ‘Special One’ returned to his old stomping ground, he has overseen plenty of transfer activity at the club. Players past their prime like Florent Malouda and Yossi Benayoun have given way for new blood like Andre Schurrle and Marco van Ginkel. Mark Schwarzer has come in for Ross Turnbull in the goalkeeping department.
Former loan players Romelu Lukaku and Kevin de Bruyne have returned to try their luck at the club whereas Marko Marin and Oriol Romeu have been sent out on loan for some much-needed playing time.
Mourinho has also targeted Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney as the final piece to his jigsaw in order to overturn the monopoly of the Manchester duo prevalent in the Premier League since the last three years.
However, while the Portuguese is focused on his final acquisition, Barcelona are steadfastly looking at no-nonsense centre-back David Luiz to solve their defensive woes. The Catalan club are in the market for a defender who can add more stability to the back-four.
New manager Tata Martino has identified his defence as a cause for concern, especially highlighted after last season’s drubbing at the hands of Bayern Munich, and is eyeing a move for the Brazilian for the upcoming season.
They made their liking for the player official as they formally submitted a bid in the region of £35 million for the 26-year-old’s services. However, the Blues are in no mood to sell one of their star players with Mourinho stating that Barcelona are ‘wasting their time’ over their pursuit of Luiz.
According to Yahoo! Eurosport, he said, “The bid? It’s lost time for them. My advice to them [Barcelona] is to go to the second player on their list because they are wasting their time. We don’t want to lose our best players. No chance.”
There has been nothing said by the player as of now about the interest shown in him by Barcelona. There is no doubt his head could be swayed by the possibility of linking up with the likes of Neymar and the best player on the planet – Lionel Messi. But, the ball is in Barca’s court now as they consider coming up with an improved offer for the defender.