Bad blood is now forgotten
even in January. The Portuguese only worked with Luiz for one season at Chelsea, in 2013-14, when the player started just 15 league games, mostly in midfield, with Mourinho preferring John Terry and Gary Cahill as his centre-backs.
At the end of the campaign, the Brazilian was sold for a then world-record £50million fee for a defender to French side Paris Saint-Germain.
There was no love lost between the pair at the time, with Mourinho saying that Luiz “would not be missed”, while the player in turn said that Mourinho was not “special” to him.
Luiz also taunted the then Chelsea manager when PSG knocked his side out of the Champions League in 2015.
But the bad blood appears to have been forgotten, with Mourinho apparently impressed by Luiz’s improved performances last season after he returned from PSG in a cut-price £34m deal and helped Chelsea win the title.
The Daily Express understands that Luiz is still angry at what he sees as a humiliation for someone who came back to Stamford Bridge two summers ago because of his love for Chelsea.
Conte, perhaps significantly after the United game, gave no guarantees that Luiz would have a future at Chelsea.
The Italian would only say: “I don’t know. He has to work hard, otherwise they are on the bench or in the stand.”
Conte played Andreas Christensen in Luiz’s place in the 1-0 win over United and the 21-year-old Danish international is highly rated at Stamford Bridge.
However, if Luiz was sold, Conte would certainly be looking for a replacement.