Andre Villas-Boas denies move for FC Porto's Alvaro Pereira
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Álvaro-Pereira-c5297, although admitting that he was on the left-back’s trail during the summer.
English Premier League giants Chelsea’s pursuit of Alvaro Pereira during the summer transfer window was arguably one of the biggest running sagas during the break.
The Blues looking to add more quality in their ageing back-line sought the Uruguayan as the ideal target, but Porto refused to cash in on their prized asset.
One of the main reasons behind the move was http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Yuri-Zhirkov-c37683 had left the club with few options.
When Villas-Boas was made the new manager, he immediately began searching for quality additions and on top of his list was his former protégé, Alvaro Pereira, who starred in Porto’s quadruple winning campaign.
It was thought that the player was also quite interested in plying his trade at Stamford Bridge; however the stumbling block was the Portistas’ high demands.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Costa-c9458, the Estadio do Dragao chief, said that while his coveted defender could potentially be up for sale, the interested party had to cough up every penny of his buyout clause and nothing less would be accepted.
€30 million was figure, which the deep pockets of Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich could easily match but given that the player had been untested in the rigours of the Premiership even the Russian oligarch refused to splash the cash.
As a result, transfer talk had cooled down in recent months but as the winter window approached, the Londoners have again been credited with an interest.
However this time, Andre Villas-Boas has denied the claims and said that his side were not willing to offer Pereira a new and improved proposal to secure his signature.
Speaking to reporters, the tactician said that while it was true that he was bent on acquiring the Uruguayan International a few months ago, this time around the rumours are not true and he hadn’t made any contact with former employers.
"In August we were close to securing Alvaro Pereira, but ultimately we failed. It is normal that Chelsea is connected to FC Porto, but then this transfer in reality is something else,” the trainer was quoted as saying.
With a move for one of Europe’s most highly rated full-backs seemingly ruled out for the time being, Chelsea are going to have to turn their attention to other targets.
The club are already out of contention for the league title, which means that they are going to need new recruits in order to maintain their status as a top club in England.
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