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Barcelona are planning a major summer overhaul and the Nou Camp side have earmarked moves for a trio of Chelsea talents they feel will resolve potential ‘problem area’s in their squad.
CaughtOffside understands that the Catalan giants are set to offload a number of players this summer as they look to finance big money moves and the La Liga side hope to lure three players from Stamford Bridge.
Gerardo Martino has earmaked a move for Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois, who has been a massive success during his three seasons on loan at Atletico Madrid and is now considered the ideal replacement for Victor Valdes.
The experienced Spanish international custodian has already stated his intention to leave in the summer and this has led to a frantic scouting process to identify possible keeper signings with the 21 year old currently topping that wish-list.
Jose Mourinho may be open to cashing in on Courtois as he continues to see Petr Cech as his undisputed number one starter and the fact that their young Belgian is still yet to play a single senior fixture for the West London club, almost three years since signing for Chelsea, would appear to suggest he is a player they can afford to consider offers for.
Similarly Brazilian international David Luiz is seen by Barcelona as a possible long term successor to centre-back Carles Puyol, with the 35 year old also publicly announcing his intention to call time on his career at Barca.
Luiz has started less than half of Chelsea’s Premier League fixtures this term and has most recently been used in a makeshift defensive midfield role, with Mourinho standing firm with his first choice centre-back pairing of John Terry and Gary Cahill.
Barcelona were linked with a £25m bid for the former Benfica man but are willing to increase their offer in the summer.
Though Luiz is something of a fan favourite and was a pivotal member of the Chelsea side’s that won Champions League and Europa League honours in recent seasons he too is a player Mourinho may be ready to sell.
Jose Mourinho is keen to balance out spending with player sales and is keen to trim his extensive squad with one eye on UEFA’s FFP (Financial Fair Play) guidelines, which will really begin to bite next season.
The Chelsea manager adopted this approach in January when he sold Juan Mata, Kevin de Bruyne and Micheal Essien to Man United, Wolfsburg and AC Milan respectively, then using the funds to cover the cost of bringing in Nemanja Matic, Mohamed Salah and Kurt Zouma.
It’s the third member of the Barcelona’s Chelsea based shopping list that may prove the most tricky as they seek out a move to bring in midfield battler Ramires.
Martino is a big admirer of the 27 year old and will hope to tempt the Brazilian into pushing for a move to Barcelona, where he’ll be used to improve the club’s midfield options.
Ramires is seen as a viable option to replace two players who look to be part of the Blaugrana clear-out, namely former Premier League pair Alex Song and Javier Mascherano.
Jose Mourinho will not be looking to lose Ramires, a player who has already racked up close to 200 appearances for Chelsea since his move to the club in August 2010.
As well as the two aforementioned defensive midfielders Barcelona are also ready to offload Isaac Cuenca, Gerard Deulofeu, Marc Bartra as well as more established first teamers including Pedro and Dani Alves.
Barcelona are ready to sanction an offer of as much as €100m (£83m) for the Chelsea trio.
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