Shakhtar Donetsk head coach Mircea Lucescu has admitted he will not force Chelsea and Liverpool transfer target Alex Teixeira to stay at the club if he wants to leave this month, and also insisted the forward has a bright future ahead of him.
Standard Sport understands that Teixeira has been top of Chelsea's wishlist of players to sign for some time now, and the club had been hoping to complete a deal for the Brazilian either this month or in the summer.
However, Liverpool emerged as surprise suitors for the 26-year-old last week when the club's chief executive Ian Ayre flew to the USA, where Shakhtar were playing in the Florida Cup, to begin negotiations over a move.
It is believed that Liverpool had an opening bid of £23million rejected by Shakhtar for the 26-year-old before the player admitted he wants to play in the Premier League - but denied he had already given assurances to the Reds or Chelsea about where his next club will be.
And with less than a week to go until the transfer window in England closes, Shakhtar's coach Lucescu has admitted he will not stop Teixeira from making the move abroad should he wish to depart the Ukrainian side.
What to expect from Chelsea before the transfer window shuts
"Our president knows when it is the time for Teixeira to go," Lucescu told FourFourTwo on Tuesday. "I don’t want to keep a player against his desire. He wants to play in a big championship.
"He’s worth €50m. He’s incredible, very fast, very good technique.
"I compare him with other players of the same age who changed [the fortunes of] a club, [Angel] Di Maria for example at Paris Saint-Germain.
"Teixeira can be at the same level, better even. He doesn’t get injured, and every year he gets better and better."
