Chelsea have announced that they have signed Brazillian defender David Luiz from Benfica for a reported fee of 25 million euros.
David Luiz who will link up with fellow Brazilians, Ramires and Alex, had a contract with Benfica until 2015. But now, Chelsea has signed Luiz and as part of the deal, Nemanja Matic will move in the opposite direction.
David Luiz arrived from Vitoria in 2007 as a replacement for Ricardo Rocha who was set for a move to Tottenham Hotspurs at that time. He slotted immediately into the first team and was actually a key player in Benfica's title winning season last year, playing in 29 of the 30 league matches.
David Luiz's performances lead to him being touted as the best young defender in the world and he definitely caught the eye of many other European giants such as Real Madrid and Chelsea.
But Chelsea looked the most serious in capturing him and made a series of bid throughout the January transfer window of this season. The transfer looked in doubt as Benfica rejected all the offers made by Chelsea and fans were convinced that the deal might not be struck in time before the window ended.
However, in one of the most bizarre winter transfer window, Chelsea made a final push and they announced last night that they had completed the capture of David Luiz.
David Luiz will now be pushed alongside John Terry to bring more stability to the defensive set up at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea also completed the signing of Fernando Torres from Liverpool last night.
David Luiz arrived from Vitoria in 2007 as a replacement for Ricardo Rocha who was set for a move to Tottenham Hotspurs at that time. He slotted immediately into the first team and was actually a key player in Benfica's title winning season last year, playing in 29 of the 30 league matches.
David Luiz's performances lead to him being touted as the best young defender in the world and he definitely caught the eye of many other European giants such as Real Madrid and Chelsea.
But Chelsea looked the most serious in capturing him and made a series of bid throughout the January transfer window of this season. The transfer looked in doubt as Benfica rejected all the offers made by Chelsea and fans were convinced that the deal might not be struck in time before the window ended.
However, in one of the most bizarre winter transfer window, Chelsea made a final push and they announced last night that they had completed the capture of David Luiz.
David Luiz will now be pushed alongside John Terry to bring more stability to the defensive set up at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea also completed the signing of Fernando Torres from Liverpool last night.
