Despite Jose Mourinho’s critical comments about his defending at Chelsea, David Luiz claims he holds no bad feelings towards his former manager.
Former Chelsea centre-back David Luiz insists he harbours no ill-will towards Jose Mourinho, despite the Blues manager’s less than favourable comments following his £50 million summer move to Paris Saint-Germain.
Carlo Ancelotti opted to bring Luiz to Stamford Bridge in the winter of 2011 after witnessing him star for Benfica but, while he would make 143 total appearances for the club over the next three and-a-half seasons, while winning both the FA Cup and Champions League in 2012 and the Europa League in 2013, his defensive nous was often called into question.
Seeing his first-team opportunities restricted upon the return of Mourinho in the summer of 2013, most expressed shock at PSG spending a word-record fee for a defender for his services in June, and those views were further heightened following a dismal performance in Brazil’s 7-1 World Cup semi-final defeat to Germany.
The Portuguese tactician later stated that he would miss Luiz on a personal level but ‘as a central defender, not at all’, though the 46-times capped international claims Chelsea in fact offered him a new deal before he himself decided to leave west London.
‘It was my choice, my cycle had finished,’ he told Reuters.
‘I decided to move and PSG showed me a nice plan for the moment and for the future. When they showed it to me I decided it was where I wanted to go.
‘Chelsea offered me a new contract. It was my decision to leave. I don’t have a problem with Mourinho.’
Luiz, 27, has since made 10 total appearances in the French capital, joining Brazil teammates Thiago Silva and Marquinhos in the centre-back rotation, though some expect him to move into a permanent defensive midfield role in the near future to accommodate his compatriots.
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