Chelsea FC Rumors: Filipe Luis Back To Atletico Madrid

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After spending just one season with Chelsea FC, it is rumored that Brazilian fullback Filipe Luis is rumored to be heading back to Atletico Madrid. Reports from several news outlets, including the Telegraph, suggest that Atletico is “monitoring his situation at Chelsea”.

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Luis has been one of the rotation players in Jose Mourinho’s squad and is clearly not a starter for the Blues as Cesar Azpilicueta has been preferred on  the left flank. This lack of regular football is likely the cause of the rumors that Luis is interested in going back to La Liga and Atletico are looking to re-sign him.

So far this season Filipe Luis has made 22 starts and five substitute appearances for the Chelsea FC first team including six in the Premier League, five in the Capital One Cup, and five in the Champions League. That is a huge contrast from his last season with Atletico Madrid where he made 51 starts across all competitions and made no appearances as a substitute.

He was firmly entrenched and excelled in his role with Atletico where he helped lead his club to a La Liga title and a Champions League Final appearance. His play against Chelsea FC in the semifinal was one of the reasons he was targeted by Jose Mourinho who saw that he could add a more attacking flair to that left back position.

Unfortunately for Luis, his counterpart on the right side Branislav Ivanovic is already a very offensive-minded player and having two attacking fullbacks would leave the Chelsea FC defense too exposed. Mourinho has opted to deploy Luis against teams that are more defensive as he is a better offensive player than Ivanovic but having both of them on the field at the same time could be a liability.

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With these rumors floating around, Filipe Luis must make the decision of whether he wants to continue as a squad player with Chelsea FC or go back to La Liga. At 29 years old he is still in the prime of his career but he may not have many years of top level football left in him. He must also decide if he thinks he can unseat Azpilicueta as a starter who, truth be told, has not been at his best this season.

Luis may even be wondering to himself what more the Spaniard has to do to lose his starting place as he has been poor at times in recent matches. Chelsea FC spent £16 million on Filipe Luis less than a year ago because he is one of the better fullbacks in Europe. If he does not want to leave then the Blues have no reason to sell him to Atletico Madrid or to anyone else.

Next: Chelsea - Southampton: Post Match Reflections

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