Villas-Boas Refused €18m Uruguayan Hotshot Reunion

Andre Villas-Boas has been told he will not be able to purchase Alvaro Pereira in the January transfer window, with Porto insisting that Chelsea will not be given the option to purchase the winger, no matter the price.

Villas-Boas is well aware of Pereira's talents, with the former Porto man himself already having managed the star in Portugal before making the move to Stamford Bridge.

And while rumours have suggested that Pereira might move to Chelsea in the January transfer window, Porto president Jorge Pinto da Costa has insisted that he is not for sale.

"I have offered a guarantee to the coach that no important players will leave the team in January - and that includes Alvaro Pereira," he said.

"I think the chance to do a deal for this player has passed and that is good news for us. Now is the time that rumours start spreading about players, but I am used to that."

Chelsea made a bid for the €18 million-rated star towards the end of the last deadline day, and Pinto da Costa revealed he turned it down immediately.

"I confirm that Chelsea have made an offer which took 30 seconds to be responded to," he said at the time.

Villas-Boas recently admitted that if the right player were to come along and look an appropriate fit for the Chelsea squad, money would be no object as the club look to bolster in preparation for a late title challenge and Champions League berth.

But with Pereira looking near impossible to be purchased by the London club, he may become another case like Luka Modric, where the Blues have to accept defeat.

Villas-Boas is always on the lookout for attacking players, with the manager hoping to re-establish the Chelsea squad as having a style of play similar to Barcelona, and while Pereira would have fitted into that policy, the club are now going to have to look elsewhere.