Source: Daily_Mail
Inter give up on overpriced Chelsea pair to plump for Lucio and Hleb
Inter Milan are set to close the door on their bid to sign wantaway Chelsea stars Deco and Ricardo Carvalho.
The Italians are on the verge of signing Brazil captain Lucio - who had been linked to Chelsea and Manchester City - on a free transfer from Bayern Munich.
And with Alexander Hleb also thought to be close to agreeing a season-long loan from Barcelona, Inter president Massimo Moratti indicated they were no longer looking at the unhappy Blues players.
Inter have been in talks for weeks about taking Portugal internationals Deco and Carvalho to the San Siro, but the two clubs were way apart in their valuations of the pair.
Please let me go: Ricardo Carvalho is unhappy at Chelsea
And while Moratti insisted Lucio's signing was not yet complete, he said: 'Would the signing of Lucio mean we abandon a deal for Deco and Carvalho? I think it's sufficiently clear that we can't sign 40 players.'
The collapse of the deals is a huge blow to the pair, who have heavily criticised their employer this summer, particularly for the way Chelsea handled their respective injury problems.
Inter are also close to agreeing the £3.9million sale of Brazilian left-back Maxwell to Barcelona and Italian reports on Thursday morning said the money would be used to make an improved bid for Carvalho.
However, if they do re-invest the cash, it is likely to go for the like-for-like signing of Brazil left-back Andre Santos from Corinthians. They are likely to face competition from city rivals AC Milan for the 26-year-old.
