Chelsea have been linked with a move for Inter Milan defender Nicolas Burdisso following Ricardo Carvalho's £6.7million move to Real Madrid.

Sportsmail understands that the Blues are keen on Benfica's Brazil defender David Luiz, but a £27million price tag could lead them to look at other targets.

Reports in Italy suggest Carlo Ancelotti could return to Italy for 29-year-old Burdisso, and Inter technical director Marco Branca has added fuel to the fire by confirming there has been interest from England.

The Argentina defender's agent insisted last week there had been no contact yet from Chelsea, but Branca said: 'I can confirm that Burdisso has many admirers in England.'

Ancelotti deployed John Terry and Alex at the centre of his defence in Sunday's 6-0 win against West Bromwich and also has Branislav Ivanovic to call on.

But the Stamford Bridge boss must decide whether to bring in a replacement for Carvalho, who was sold to Real last week or give opportunities to the likes of Michael Mancienne or Jeffrey Bruma.

Like Luiz, Burdisso is versatile enough to play anywhere along the back four. He had hoped to clinch a permanent move to Roma, where he spent last season on loan, but the clubs have failed to agree a fee.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1303490/Chelsea-line-Inter-Milans-Nicolas-Burdisso-replacement-Ricardo-Carvalho.html

With Benfica asking for stupid money for David Luiz, this could be quite a good cheap option as back up to our D. Very versatile and obviously hugely experienced at the top level. Good to see that we will not let clubs hold us to extortion any longer. A good move I would say.

This guy was known as the Wes Brown of Italy. Can't be great news. A decent squad player at best.

What is the point, really? Unless we let another defender go, assume is Paulo F, he will be warming the bench 80% of the time. If balance the book is the priority at this stage, why waste the money on an expensive backup?

If we were to get him, i would view him as Belletti mk II. An experienced defender that can slot in at CB or FB. I personally don't see the need but wouldn't be hugely upset if we got him on the (very) cheap

If we are considering this as a short term measure, then I think it's a decent move. He's a solid defender who was magnificent at Roma last year so much so that he relegated Mexes to the bench. A friend of mine who is a big Roma fan told me this morning that they have no hope of doing as well as last season if they don't get him back. Alex and Ivan have shown a degree of susceptibility to injury so it could be a reasonable move. He might even come to be seen as closer to first choice.

However, in the long run he really only holds back our other defenders. Alex is solid as first choice and although I have my question marks over Ivan in the centre he isn't going to get any better by bringing someone in ahead of him. Same goes for Bruma, and another defender would probably mean the finish of Mancienne which I'm not in favour of.

So I guess it depends on how you view it. If the fee and wages are small then I don't really mind either way, but in the end it's probably another case of 1+1=3 from the Mail. Riccy leaving and Inter not needing Burdisso means we have a neat fit. Then again I hardly think this story is going to move a lot of copy, so not really a lot of reason to be making stuff up.

Pretty decent player, but I seem to remember Ancelotti saying that Bruma would be tahking Carvalho's place in the team this season.

Dont want him..he might be a decent player but it should be our priority to give Bruma some games.