Rumour: Chelsea make bid for Atletico star Miranda

Spanish sports daily Marca claims the Blues have made a €25m (£20m) offer for the centre-back, who has a release clause of €30m in his contract.

Chelsea have already signed Filipe Luis and Diego Costa from the Spanish champions, while Thibaut Courtois has returned to Stamford Bridge after three years on loan at the Vicente Calderon.

Miranda is reported to have spent the summer considering his future at Atletico, with Barcelona and Manchester United also interested in his services.

But both clubs baulked at Atletico’s insistence on his contract clause being met and Atletico’s stance hasn’t changed.

Diego Simeone wants Miranda to stay but Jose Mourinho wants Miranda to play under him from now on, with Marca pointing out Mourinho and Miranda also share an agent.

Miranda is an excellent player who, like Filipe Luis, was inexplicably and fatally left out of Brazil's World Cup squad. But if they sign him Chelsea would have five senior centre-backs, plus promising youngsters Nathan Ake, Nathan Chalobah and Andreas Christensen.

Manchester United or Barcelona seem like more likely destinations as they are short in that department - but if Jose Mourinho wants a full restructure at Stamford Bridge, he could well move for Miranda and offload one or more of Gary Cahill, Branislav Ivanovic or even John Terry.

Either way, the power is in the buying club - despite winning La Liga last year, Atletico suffer from Spain's uneven TV distribution deal and do not have the resources of Europe's biggest clubs. Their players all have buyout clauses and, ultimately, it will be out of Simeone's hands.