Chelsea To Battle Real Madrid For Brazilian, Mikel Obi Could Be Off

According to reports, Jose Mourinho is set to rival his former club Real Madrid for the signature of Cruzeiro of Brazil midfielder Lucas Silva.

Real Madrid were thought to be interested in the player who could be a ready replacement for the departing German midfielder Sami Khedira but Chelsea have also shown interest in the player and could push the Spanish giant all the way for signature of the 21-year-old who is already seen as one of the best defensive midfielders in his age.

Silva  broke into the Cruzeiro first team and made his debut for the club in 2012. The Brazil Under-20 international has gone ahead to become a prominent member of the Serie A- winning side of 2013. He has also been outstanding this season with Cruzeiro looking to retain their title.

Mourinho has spoken of his intention to build a team that could rule the Premier league and the world for the next decade and may have identified the Brazil youngster as part of the plan.

Chelsea already have quite a number of holding midfielders in Nemanja Matic, John Obi, Ramires, Marco Van Ginkel (on loan at AC Milan) and Oriol Romeu (on loan at VFB Stuttgart).

The recent interest in another holding Midfielder could mean that Mourinho does not value some of the player he has in that position. Some of them will have to be sold or let go if the club were to bring in Lucas.

Matic has been the preferred choice for Mourinho in the holding role while Mikel and Ramires have played mostly a substitute role. It is clear both players are behind Matic in the pecking order and could be the ones to get the chop if Chelsea moves for Lucas.

Ramires has been linked away from Stamford Bridge this season with Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid being the rumoured destination. Carlo Ancelotti was the man who brought Ramires to Chelsea from Benfica during his time at the club and he is thought to still value the player hence, could move for him.

John Obi Mikel on the other hand is among the longest serving player at the club behind John Terry and Petr Cech. He has been at the club since his protracted move in 2005. Has played under different manager and has seemed to play his way into each of the teams under the various managers. There were speculations linking him away from the club to Inter Milan of Italy and Galatasaray of Turkey in the summer but nothing concrete came out of it.

It will be hard to imagine which of these players the club will be doing away with if Lucas eventually makes a move to Stamford Bridge as both players still have enough to offer the club.

Romeu and Van Ginkel have not really made their mark since moving to the club no thanks to bouts of injuries that have plagued both players thus hindering their development. There loan will do them a great good as they will get regular football opportunities but its still very difficult to imagine their future at the club.