Nou Camp side plot double Stamford Bridge raid.
Barcelona have set their sights on two Chelsea stars as Nou Camp boss Tito Vilanova looks to fork out as much as £60m to bring in Stamford Bridge duo Juan Mata and David Luiz.
The Daily Star claim that the Catalan side want Blues star Mata to replace Thiago Alcantara, this despite the fact that the young Barcelona midfielder is little more than a bit part player, hence his probable move to either Bayern Munich or Man United this summer.
This source rather wildly states that Mata is not part of Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea plans, which is a little hard to swallow when you take into account that the former Valencia man is probably the West London club’s most effective creative talent.
Barcelona will look to finance a move for the £30m rated 25 year old by selling the aforementioned Thiago as well as young attacker Christian Tello.
Mata has been a massive success at Chelsea, scoring 32 goals and providing an astonishing 59 assists in his 118 appearances for the club, helping the Stamford Bridge side to a Champions League and Europa League title in the process.
The Daily Mail believe that Barcelona have also launched a £30m bid for Brazilian international David Luiz.
Vilanova reportedly see the 26 year old as a long term replacement for veteran Carles Puyol even though Luiz is arguably more suited to a defensive midfield role, one that he excelled in during spells last term.
Apparently the former Benfica man is tempted by the chance to join Barcelona and perhaps Mourinho feels he can afford to cash in on the Brazilian given that he has the likes of John Terry, Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic to turn to in terms of filling central defensive slots.
For a team jam packed with midfield and attacking talents Barcelona do not have all that many defensive options and last term had to turn to both Javier Mascherano and Alex Song to occasionally fill in at the back.