The agent of Atletico Madrid left-back Filipe Luis has confirmed that Chelsea want to sign his client, while suggesting Atletico will play hardball over a price.
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Atletico's superb 2013-14 season, and their continued financial issues, mean other clubs are hoping to pick off players whose reputations have grown as Diego Simeone's side won the Primera Division and reached the Champions League final.
Chelsea are one of those clubs -- with a 32 million pound move for centre-forward Diego Costa widely expected to take place, and free agent Tiago Mendes, 33, also said to be close to agreeing a free transfer back to the club where he won the 2004-05 Premier League title.
Los Colchoneros' chief executive Miguel Angel Gil Marin said this week that the club did not need to sell any player this summer. However, given Atletico's 500 million euro-plus debts, that was widely taken to be an initial negotiating position.
Filipe's representative Manuel Garcia Quilon was at the Calderon on Thursday evening, and told an AS reporter on his way out of the stadium that there had been contact from Chelsea in his client, however Atletico were going to try and avoid selling as many players as they could.
"The interest [from Chelsea] is there, but Atletico do not want to sell," Garcia Quilon said. "It has been decided to keep most of the group together for next season. We will see what happens with different players, but the intention is not to sell anyone."