Manchester City on alert as Benfica tell Chelsea to improve £27m bid for defender David Luiz Read

Chelsea have been told they must stump up £33million to sign top defensive target David Luiz from Benfica.

Sportsmail revealed on Saturday that Carlo Ancelotti has identified Luiz as the man he wants to plug the gap in the centre of Chelsea's defence.

But Benfica, who are on the verge of selling midfielder Ramires to Chelsea in a £20m deal, are determined to play hard ball over Luiz who received his first call-up to the senior Brazil team yesterday by new coach Mano Menezes.

Chelsea were ready to pay £27m to head off the formidable opponents of both Manchester City and Real Madrid in the race to sign one of Europe's most highly rated young defenders.

And it remains to be seen whether Roman Abramovich is determined to go the extra mile for his manager who will be without injured defender Alex for the start of the season.

With Ricardo Carvalho having signaled his desire for a move to the Bernabeu and a reunion with Jose Mourinho, Ancelotti could find himself short of numbers in central defence if Chelsea are unsuccessful in their big money move for Luiz.

But the Italian will be cheered by the news that Ramires arrival at Stamford Bridge would seem to be only days away after the Brazil midfielder returned to Portugal yesterday to put the finishing touches to his move from Benfica.

Meanwhile, Ancelotti has turned to trusted fitness coach Giovanni Mauri to ensure his players are in tip top condition as they set about defending their Barclays Premier League and FA Cup crowns as well as launching yet another attempt at winning the Champions League.

Mauri first worked with Ancelotti as far back as 1996 with Parma before rejoining him at AC Milan. Ancelotti has now persuaded Mauri to link up with him once more and his appointment comes at a time when Chelsea have lost not only Alex but also Didier Drogba and Petr Cech to muscle injuries which have sidelined the trio for the start of the coming campaign.

Mauri is expected to work along side current fitness coach Glen Driscoll and head of sports science Nick Broad.