David Luiz wants to return to Benfica if he fails to agree a new Chelsea deal, claims The Daily Mirror.
The 31-year-old’s existing deal is due to expire at the end of the season and Chelsea are unwilling to match his contract demands.
Chelsea do not like to reward players the wrong side of 30 with lengthy contracts and prefer to operate with rolling 12 month deals.
However, Luiz is not interested in signing a one-year extension and will instead angle for a Benfica return if there is no breakthrough in talks with Chelsea.
Benfica were Luiz’s first club in Europe and the Brazil international spent four years with the Portuguese giants before earning his first move to Chelsea in 2011.
After a spell at Paris Saint-Germain, Luiz is approaching the end of his third year of his second stint at Stamford Bridge, helping Chelsea win the league in his first season back.
Luiz dropped out of favour under Antonio Conte last season but has been restored to defence this term after surprising Maurizio Sarri with his qualities.
Since returning to Chelsea, the west London outfit have a far superior win ratio in the Premier League (71%) compared to when he has not featured from the off (57.1%).
