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Barcelona to turn to Chelsea target Eliaquim Mangala after giving up on Agger and Luiz
BARCELONA are set to battle Chelsea and Monaco for the signing of Porto's French defender Eliaquim Mangala.
A defender remains the priority for Gerardo Martino this summer as he seeks to bring in cover for the increasingly injury-prone Carles Pujol and the Catalan club have been linked with a host of targets including Liverpool's Daniel Agger, Chelsea's David Luiz and Tottenham's Jan Vertonghen.
But according to reports in Spain Barca are now preparing to move for Porto's Mangala after admitting defeat in their pursuit of their other targets.
Mangala was hotly tipped to become Jose Mourinho's first signing as Chelsea boss after returning from Real Madrid earlier in the summer.
The Portugese boss is known to be a keen admirer of the French international, currently plying his trade in the Primeira Liga, and was thought to be planning a £30m bid to bring the player to Stamford Bridge.
Earlier this offseason Mangala said of the link to Chelsea: "It's flattering because Chelsea are a great club and Mourinho is a great coach.
"I intended to stay in Porto but you never know what will happen in football, especially when big clubs are involved."
And it now appears that Barcelona are set to test the resolve of both Porto and the 22-year-old defender.
According to Spanish daily Sport, Barcelona are ready to use the money set aside for their pursuit of Luiz and Agger to try and meet Mangala's buy-out clause, thought to be in the region of £40m.
Whilst Chelsea will undoubtedly be relieved that Barca seem to have switched their attentions away from Luiz, they may not be quite so pleased at the prospect of losing a potential target to the Spanish club instead.
Fortunately for Chelsea, reports also suggest that the Catalan club could still turn to Mangala's Porto teammate Nicolas Otamendi or Lyon's Serbian international Milan Bisevac.
Despite representing France at international level, Mangala has never plied his trade in the country having come up through the ranks at Standard Liege before making the move to Porto in 2011.