Chelsea Defender Agrees Move To Barcelona In January - Report

Chelsea centre back David Luiz has told his close family that he is going to sign for Barcelona in the next transfer window as he has already agreed a deal with the Catalans, reports in Spain claim.

Barcelona are desperately looking for a centre-back as 35-year-old Carles Puyol is way past his best, and Javier Mascherano is playing in defence even though he is much better in the midfield.

Spanish TV Show Tiki Taka reports that Luiz has already reached an agreement with Barcelona. According to that information, the player has told family that he is going to move to Spain in January and he is going to sign for Barcelona.

Now all that remains is for the two clubs to agree an agreement, and Tika Taka suggests a deal of around £25m is likely.

"A member of David Luiz's family called him recently to tell him that he was going to visit him in London after Christmas. However David Luiz told him that if he wanted to see him in England he had to go before January as after that he is going to live in Barcelona", the Tiki Taka presenter reported.

Last summer Barcelona tried to sign Thiago Silva and after the Paris Saint Germain defender refused to move to La Liga, the Catalan club turned their attention to David Luiz.

Spanish newspaper Sport recently reported that Barcelona agreed a £30m deal with Chelsea for the Brazilian defender last summer but the deal was blocked when the Catalans changed their coach due to Tito Villanova's illness, because his successor Gerardo Martino believed Puyol could return to his best.

However, Puyol has played just three La Liga games this season and Martino is finally convinced that they need a centre back as soon as possible.

Nevertheless, there are two problems in the negotiations. Firstly, that the player will not able to play in Champions League for Barcelona as he has already done so for Chelsea, and secondly that Jose Mourinho may be reluctant to sanction the deal given his antipathy towards Nou Camp officials.

Luiz, 26, has had his share of highlights during a two-and-a-half spell at Stamford Bridge. However this season he has played just five Premier League games as John Terry and Gary Cahill have forged the starting parrnership in Mourinho's defence.