Chelsea-linked star reveals PSG ‘blocked talks straight away’

PSG star Marquinhos has revealed that Chelsea were interested in him during the summer but the French club “blocked talks straight away”.

The Brazillian defender joined the French giants from Roma in 2013 for a fee of around €31m.

Marquinhos has been a key player for PSG since this move as he has played just short of 350 times for them across all competitions.

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The 27-year-old has already been capped 62 times for Brazil. He has partnered Chelsea defender Thiago Silva in defence for both PSG and Brazil.

Last year, Marquinhos was named as PSG’s new captain when Silva left the club.

It has been reported that the Blues attempted to sign the centre-back during the summer. 

Marquinhos has confirmed to Le Parisien that Chelsea were interested in him. He stated that PSG “blocked talks” between the clubs right away:

“No! It wasn’t even an offer. In fact, [PSG] blocked talks straight away.

“It shows the faith they have in me, it is an honour for a club like PSG to put such faith in me.

“The fact that others are interested in me means I am doing well. It gives me the motivation to go on, boost my training sessions and play even better.

“Paris and PSG are the only things on my mind.”

Elsewhere, Andy Townsend has backed Mason Mount to become a leader for Chelsea:

“Every time, he’s in their best 11. I think he has shown now for club and country that he can operate in the big games.

“He has good discipline about his game. He is an aggressive boy, he’ll throw himself into a challenge, but you rarely see him getting involved with anything unnecessary.

“I think he has a real sharp focus right now about what to do. ‘I’m getting in the box, I’m getting on the edge of the box, I’m getting my shots away. I have to provide some output to stay in this team’.

“The team are now looking at him to lead from that position and I think he’s doing that. He is tremendous.”