There was a development in the proposed transfer of David Luiz from Benfica to Chelsea on Thursday when the Portuguese club broke their silence.
The Lisbon side have released a statement to the Portuguese stock exchange, saying they have received a bid, reported to be £26million, from the Blues for the Brazilian centre-half.
The highly-rated 23-year-old has been linked with Chelsea for months and they were reported to have had a £17million bid knocked back some weeks ago. However, they have continued to chase the player and that chase has really heated up as the January transfer window nears its end.
Now, Benfica have published their statement, which read: "We have received an offer from Chelsea Football Club for the acquisition of the sporting and economic rights of David Luiz. A negotiation process between both parties is ongoing and the market will be informed when it is completed."
How the deal would be broken down was not revealed by Benfica, who have been keen to get a fair price for Luiz, who made his Brazil debut last August and is contracted to the Stadium Of Light until 2015.
Chelsea have successfully applied for a work permit for Luiz, but negotiations remain ongoing and he turned out for Benfica in their Portuguese Cup win at Rio Ave on Wednesday night.