Blues won’t be bullied by Barca

Roberto Di Matteo has declared Chelsea are too big a club to be bullied by Barcelona into selling David Luiz.

The Spanish giants are reported to be interested in Luiz, allocating up to £30m (€37m) to sign the Brazil centre-back who returns from a knee injury for today’s Barclays Premier clash with Newcastle.

But unlike Arsenal, who have seen Cesc Fabregas and Alex Song depart for the Nou Camp in the last year, Di Matteo insists his European champions have nothing to fear.

“Luiz is part of our future. It’s normal that he’ll get interest because he’s a Brazilian international centre-back,” the Italian said.

“There have been no approaches for Luiz and he’s not for sale at any price.

“It doesn’t concern me, the player will be here for the long term.

“I believe we can withstand Barcelona. Personally we don’t feel any pressure from them. This club has been very successful in the past.

“I don’t see why any players would want to leave us for anywhere else.

“We always compete for trophies. We’re an ambitious club with an ambitious owner. We have great facilities.

Luiz was warned by Chelsea for revealing his knee injury on Twitter, but the Brazilian later Tweeted a photo of himself on a private jet heading for Barcelona to watch their match against Real Madrid.

Di Matteo insists he was at the Nou Camp on behalf of a sponsor.

“David went to a sponsor’s event. In modern day football players have sponsorship deals,” he said.

The Blues yesterday completed the signing of Spanish defender Cesar Azpilicueta from Marseille and with Victor Moses’ arrival from Wigan imminent, the club’s summer spending has reached the £80m mark.

The challenge now facing Di Matteo is integrating his new players — who include Eden Hazard and Oscar — into a winning team.

“It’s going to be slow progress to get the players into the team, it won’t be a revolution,” he said.

“We want to build a team for the future. We have increased our creativity in midfield and have more pace.

“I’m happy with our signings. We’ve invested in the next cycle for four or five years.” Captain John Terry is struggling to be fit for today’s clash with Newcastle due to a neck injury.

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has challenged his team to hand Chelsea another taste of misery following last season’s stunning 2-0 victory at Stamford Bridge.

Pardew said: “Chelsea are the European champions. They won the Champions League and they have improved since then – Hazard looks a great buy. We know him well, so we know what to expect from him.

“There are no surprises in that team, but I think we can match them and give a good showing there.”