Chelsea in talks with Atlético Madrid for left-back Filipe Luís

 
Chelsea have resumed talks with Atlético Madrid over the recruitment of the highly rated Brazilian left-back Filipe Luís, one of three potential signings by the Premier League club from the Spanish league winners.
Luís was a key member of the Atlético defence, backed up by the Chelsea loanee Thibaut Courtois in goal, that shipped only 26 goals in 38 games to claim a first league title since 1996. The 28-year-old full-back moved to Vicente Calderón from Deportivo la Coruña four years ago and, while he suggested after Saturday’s Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid that he intended to honour the final three years of his contract, the London club are confident they can lure him to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea are seeking a replacement for the departing Ashley Cole, whose eight-year stay will end when his contract expires at the end of next month, and had also considered the credentials of Sevilla’s Alberto Moreno and Southampton’s Luke Shaw. Yet, while interest in the teenage England international is long established and maintained, Shaw is still expected to move to Manchester United and Luís would be a safer option, given his experience and his clear pedigree, as demonstrated in both legs of Atletico’s semi-final success over Chelsea in the Champions League this season.
More surprising is their interest in re-signing the much-travelled Portuguese midfielder Tiago, whose contract at Atlético will also expire next month. The 33-year-old spent a year working with José Mourinho at Stamford Bridge during his first spell as manager before resuming a career which has taken in spells at Lyon, Juventus, Benfica and, most recently, in the Spanish capital.
The veteran, who has 58 caps from an eight-year international career that ended in 2010, would add to Chelsea’s midfield numbers and his arrival, even as a squad player, would apparently not affect Frank Lampard’s chances of securing a new one-year deal.
Mourinho hopes that Tiago’s signing under the Bosman rulingmight smooth the adjustment of another Atlético player, the striker Diego Costa, into English football – with the Brazil-born Spain international expected to complete his £31.8m move to south-west London this summer. That transfer may be confirmed only after the World Cup finals, for which Costa remains a doubt with the hamstring injury which forced him off early at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon on Saturday.
Chelsea have secured their young Nigeria international, Kenneth Omeruo, to a new contract that will keep him at the club until 2018. The centre-half, who is a member of his national team’s squad for the World Cup, spent the second half of last season on loan at Middlesbrough in the Championship.