Agent: Chelsea keen on Demichelis deal
Bayern Munich defender Martin Demichelis is believed to be attracting the interest of Premier League champions Chelsea, according to the player's agent.
The Argentinian centre-back signalled his intention to leave the Bundesliga champions after he was left out of the Bayern side that narrowly beat Wolfsburg on Friday evening.
Should Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti step up his interest in the 29-year-old before next week's transfer deadline, he can expect to face competition from Juventus, Barcelona and Sevilla if Demichelis' representative Jorge Cyterszpiler is to be believed.
"I have always had an excellent relationship with Juve," Cyterszpiler told calciomercato.it. "We spoke with Juventus, but they are not the only club interested.
"There are at least four clubs in for the player, as well as the Bianconeri there are also Barcelona, Chelsea and Sevilla."
However, it appears Bayern manager Louis van Gaal is only prepared to sanction a loan move for Demichelis, who was a mainstay in his title-winning team last season.
"At the moment Bayern don't want to sell," Cyterszpiler added. "In Italy there is also Fiorentina, Napoli and Roma that have always liked him, but it is outside their budget."
Demichelis has been at the Allianz Arena for seven years, having joined from Argentine giants River Plate in 2003, and was part of Van Gaal's double-winning team last season.
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But after selecting Daniel van Buyten and Holder Badstuber for the Bundesliga curtain-raiser last weekend, Van Gaal insisted Demechelis must take his decision on the chin.
"He won the title last season, but now has been replaced and he must accept that, it's not easy," the Dutch supremo told ESPN.
Demichelis played all five games for his country at the recent World Cup in South Africa before Argentina were dumped out by Germany in the quarter-finals.
By James Martini
Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.